Commercial and mixed-used buildings present numerous opportunities for King County Cities to achieve multiple objectives specific to sustainability efforts. Commercial and mixed-use buildings can help owners and operators achieve efficiencies of scale with green building strategies, saving money and reducing burdens on public infrastructure – green buildings can achieve substantial reductions in operating costs, and increases in overall value. These properties can serve as tangible, high profile examples of a city’s commitment to sustainability, even acting as teaching tools. Cities can meet multiple sustainability objectives by providing incentives to owners and developers based on green-building strategies.

The benefits a city can expect to see from green building practices include the opportunity to cut down on every category of waste associated with construction. Today's average high performance building is markedly more efficient than conventional construction, reducing energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption, and solid waste.

Commercial green building resources

• King County C-PACER Program
  A financing tool for more efficient, resilient commercial and multi-family properties
• Commercial Green Building Tools
  King County GreenTools
• Construction & Demolition
  King County GreenTools
• Green Building Costs & Benefits
  US Green Building Council external link