GHG64Expand third-party certification to large County infrastructure projects

The GBO requires all King County capital projects achieve the highest green building standards. County buildings and infrastructure can be held to the same standard. Using a third-party certification adds significant strength and accountability, this results in more tangible, verifiable, and demonstrated benefits for the community and environment. Envision and Salmon Safe are two examples of third-party certification frameworks designed for infrastructure and site related projects. Third-party certification allows the County to increase public confidence that capital projects are delivering benefits claimed. The GBO King County Code will be updated to require infrastructure projects, beginning in the 2026-27 budget cycle, including both new construction and major renovation, to demonstrate they are achieving the highest green building standards through third-party certification, specifically:

1. Envision Platinum certification required for:
   1. Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD): Conveyance, Combined Sewer Overflow, and pump stations projects over $20 million
   2. Metro: New RapidRide and bus base electrification charging infrastructure projects
   3. Solid Waste Division (SWD): Heavy duty electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure projects with 10 or more direct current (DC) fast chargers
   4. Road Services Division (RSD): Incorporate the Envision framework into the design, construction, and maintenance of bridge projects.
2. Salmon-Safe certification required for:
   1. Parks (PKS): Maintain the Parks division’s Salmon-Safe certification first earned in 2022, when the agency became the largest Salmon-Safe certified park system. WLRD will assess the costs and benefits of a programmatic Salmon-Safe certification for projects introduced in the 28-29 budget cycle. All other infrastructure projects shall continue to be required to achieve Platinum using the King County Sustainable Infrastructure Scorecard.
3. All other infrastructure projects shall continue to be required to achieve Platinum using the King County Sustainable Infrastructure Scorecard.