A Comparison of Seattle’s Building Tune-up Process

The Building Tune-up process has been in incorporated into the mindset of building owners in Seattle. Every five years this process needs to be implemented for all buildings that are over 50,000 square feet. Boulder, Colorado, and New York City, New York, have had similar programs in place longer than Seattle has had its program. There are many similarities between all three programs in regards to lowering carbon emissions through building maintenance and upgrades. Each city has specific bench marking goals as per what size of the building and when their specific tune-up should occur. There are also similar concerns from both building owners in regards to the costs of building upgrades versus the benefits that align with improved building performance. Within all three cities, tenants also share similar concerns mostly about increased rent due to having these buildings be improved. Both Boulder, Colorado, and New York City, New York, despite population size or location, have seen dramatic carbon decreases due to their tune-up policies being in effect. This gives great promise that Seattle’s similar tune-up process will also yield positive results.