Crossposted from the Executive Climate Office

In the summer of 2024, King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties announced we’d received a $50 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lower greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and construction throughout the region.

At the time, King County shared that the Executive Climate Office (ECO), using funding from that grant, would partner with local governments in an effort to reduce climate-warming pollution while ensuring access to healthy heating on cold days and cooling on hot ones.

A year later, that work is well underway, with new programs set to launch soon across the four-county region over the coming months!

An advisory committee with representatives from county and city governments in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties has been working with community and other local government partners to design programs providing direct installations of electric heat pumps to provide heating and cooling, grants for local governments, and financing supports.

King County readers will be familiar with the “Energize” program, which has installed nearly 200 heat pumps in single-family homes, adult family homes, and family home child cares across King County. While that program offering will continue for King County residents, “Energize” is expanding to provide direct installation services for the following types of buildings in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish Counties:

• Adult family homes

• Family home child cares

• Multifamily homes (apartment buildings)

• Community spaces (non-government owned community buildings that serve as gathering spaces or provide community services)

In addition, the four-county region will be providing building decarbonization grants for local governments.

Learn more about the upcoming programs here, or sign up for updates on this work. You can also expect news to be shared in this Climate Action newsletter, and on the Executive Climate Office (ECO) Instagram and LinkedIn pages!