RFA: Community Buildings Decarbonization Technical Assistance and Program Design

Community Buildings Decarbonization Program – Request for Applications

Applications are now open. This request will remain open through July 16, 2025, at 11:59PM (PT). King County may extend the deadline depending on the volume of submissions from qualified applicants. King County will notify each applicant no later than 60 days following submission about the status of their application.

All application materials should be submitted through the JotForm submission page.

Apply here!

King County is soliciting applications from qualified firms to provide technical assistance and program design support for a program to equitably decarbonize community buildings.* The consultant will support delivery of King County’s new Community Buildings Decarbonization Program, funded through a U.S. EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG).

Submissions are requested from consultants who can provide the following services in-house or in partnership with a team of subconsultants:

• Technical assistance for non-government owned community buildings – services and project planning, as well as management of the technical assistance process, to deliver planning for cost-effective decarbonization for non-government owned community buildings.
• Program design support – program design feedback, graphic design for program logos, GIS analysis, and other services as needed to support design and implementation of a direct installation program for non-government owned community buildings.
• Custom engineering and project design – development of engineering and mechanical plans for non-government owned buildings participating in the program that need custom solutions.
• Pre-award technical assistance for government-owned community buildings – decarbonization project design and planning to support development of strong project plans for government-owned community buildings.

*Community buildings serve as community gathering spaces or offer community services. Buildings that participate in this program will be similar to small-medium sized commercial buildings.

The selected Consultant (and their subconsultants, where relevant) will deliver these services as part of a King County program aimed at equitably decarbonizing community buildings, with a specific focus on those serving low-income, disadvantaged communities (LIDAC). The program will serve communities in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.

The purpose of this Request for Application (RFA) is to establish a contract to provide goods and/or services.

The contract term will run from 2025 through September 30, 2029, subject to funding availability and the termination clauses contained herein. King County reserves the right to extend the contract term or number of buildings served if determined to be in the best interest of the County.

• Program design support will begin in Q3 or Q4 2025 and run through the contract term (Q3 2029).
• Pre-application technical assistance will likely occur in Q1 and Q2 of 2026, though may start earlier in Q3 or Q4 of 2025.
• Technical assistance for program participants, as well as any custom design, engineering, and mechanical work, will likely occur from Q2 2026 through Q1 2028.
  
  
  

Questions

Please direct questions regarding this funding opportunity to CPRG@KingCounty.gov. Answers to questions will be provided in written form in the FAQ section on this funding page. Questions must be submitted no later than seven (7) days prior to the RFA close date in order to be answered.

Informational Webinar

Definitions

• Community buildings – buildings that serve as community gathering spaces or offer community services.
• Buildings that serve as gathering spaces – enclosed structures, fully protected from the elements, in which large groups of people intentionally congregate. Examples of such buildings include community centers, places of worship, community arts centers, etc.
• Buildings that provide community services – enclosed structures, fully protected from the elements, that are used to directly enable people to improve their lives. Examples of such buildings include food banks, community health clinics, skills training sites, etc.
• Low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs) – According to US EPA: Any community that meets at least one of the following characteristics:
  • Identified as disadvantaged by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST);
  • Any census block group that is at or above the 90th percentile for any of EJScreen’s Supplemental Indexes when compared to the nation or state; and/or
  • Any geographic area within Tribal lands as included in EJScreen.  

Funding Acknowledgement

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 84101001 to King County of Washington. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the Environmental Protection Agency endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document, as well as any images, video, text, or other content created by generative artificial intelligence tools, nor does any such content necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Request for Applications: Community Buildings Program Technical Assistance and Program Design Support

Below are questions that King County has received with regard to the RFA for Community Buildings Program Technical Assistance and Program Design Support that opened June 16, 2025 and closes July 16, 2025.

Responses to the questions are included below, and responses to additional questions will be added within 1 week of receipt of the question(s).

If you have questions, please send them via email to CPRG@kingcounty.gov no later than July 9, 2025.

Questions

Will the July 1, 2025 RFA Info Session webinar recording be posted?
Yes, the RFA info session was recorded and the recording is posted on this webpage, in the Information Session section.

Can I apply to provide a subset of the service areas outlined in the RFA?
No. Applicants must be able to provide all services described in the RFA either in-house or in partnership with a team of subconsultants.

Can I apply to provide services only in specific counties?
No. Applicants must be able to provide all services across ALL four counties—King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish—either in-house or in partnership with a team of subconsultants.

Are applicants required to have experience working with ALL utility companies that serve King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties?
No, experience working with all utilities companies that serve all four counties is not an eligibility requirement for this RFA. One component of the Introduction and Overview section of the Narrative Response portion of the application asks applicants to describe their “history of work and activity in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, including your work with each utility serving these areas. Please note if any county, or any portion of any county, is outside your current service area and what your approach would be to delivering services to buildings in those areas if selected for this contract.” If an applicant does not have experience working with a particular utility, the Narrative Response should acknowledge that and share what the approach would be to establishing those working relationships.

Based on the quantity of Pre-Application Technical Assistance described in the scope of work of the RFA, it sounds like many buildings will skip Pre-Application Technical Assistance and go straight to initial assessment (Phase I technical assistance). Is that correct?
Yes. We anticipate 10-20 entities will request and receive Pre-Application Technical Assistance to support them in applying to the program; and we anticipate that the majority of entities applying to the program will not request or require Pre-Application Technical Assistance. After their applications are reviewed, and if they are accepted into the program, entities would go straight to Phase I technical assistance.

In the RFA scope of work Section 2.5, is the 5-building target output for “Custom engineering support provided to non-government owned community buildings” a subset of the 40-50 buildings listed as an output for non-government owned buildings receiving Phase II technical assistance? Or is it a separate 5 buildings?
We anticipate a TOTAL of 40-50 non-government owned buildings moving sequentially through Phase I technical assistance and then Phase II technical assistance. Any building receiving custom engineering design support will be a part of that existing pool of 40-50 buildings and will complete both Phase I and Phase II technical assistance for non-government owned community buildings.

With regard to the Custom Engineering for Non-Government Owned Community Buildings described in the RFA scope of work section, does this task include stamping drawings, serving as Engineer of Record, and managing the permitting process? Or are most projects anticipated to be developed to a level to be handed off to a design-build contractor for installation?
The scope of work described in the RFA does not include any construction work; it only takes projects through the planning stage to move them to a place of being “shovel ready.” Given this, it is not anticipated that an Engineer of Record, stamped plans, or management of permitting processes would be needed within the scope of work of this RFA. A specific project may require those services at a later phase as the project moves into implementation/installation. As such, it’s anticipated that custom engineering support and solutions provided through this RFA, in addition to providing the designs themselves, would also flag any instances where an Engineer of Record and/or specific permitting would be required in order to execute on the plans.