The Seattle City Council unanimously approved on Monday a Resolution adopting a Community High Road Agreement for residential buildings retrofitted as part of the city’s Community Power Works program, a US Department of Energy funded program to achieve deep energy efficiency in central and southeast Seattle.

This residential building retrofit program will lead to the creation of thousands of high-quality, family-supporting jobs for qualified, historically underrepresented contractors and workers in the clean energy economy. The city and stakeholders – including public, private, nonprofit, community and labor institutions – collaborated to create this agreement, establishing a set of sustainable contracting standards and community benefits.

“The High Road Agreement will provide the framework to ensure that when we invest in conservation, we do so not only with energy savings in mind, but also the health and vitality of our communities,” said Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. “This program will ensure that where the city invests public dollars in energy conservation, we are creating career pathways and producing high quality work that saves residents money and follows our value of shared prosperity.”

The Community High Road Agreement lays out requirements that direct employment, training and business opportunities to community residents, while imposing quality standards on training programs, working conditions, and contractor performance. Together, these standards will ensure that the city’s program creates high-quality, accessible jobs for area residents, while maximizing the environmental benefits of the program. In addition, the Agreement creates mechanisms for stakeholders to play a central role in the ongoing implementation, evaluation and adjustment of the program, thus ensuring that the program benefits from the diverse expertise in the community, while also strengthening accountability and democracy.

“This project demonstrates the city’s commitment to economic development and community empowerment while meeting our environmental goals,” said Richard Conlin, President of the Seattle City Council. “I want to congratulate all the stakeholders who participated in this process to date.”

The city of Seattle partnered with Green For All – an organization that advises local leaders nationwide to develop stronger clean energy programs – to create the High Road Agreement for the city’s home energy retrofit program.

“Green For All is proud to partner with the city of Seattle in its bold and innovative approach to tackling climate change and unemployment,” said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green For All. “The Community High Road Agreement sets an example for other cities wanting to create quality jobs and pathways to prosperity in the clean energy economy.”

“The Community High Road Agreement is an important first step, and I am honored to have been a part of it,” says Jason Lear, owner of Batt and Lear, a home performance contractor in Seattle. “We have a responsibility to make the most of our existing homes, and there is so much potential for energy improvement. Success of the program will require continued support and involvement from the community. We have a lot of work ahead of us. I look forward to working with the city as part of the Stakeholder Evaluation and Implementation Committee to ensure that these standards lead to new, good jobs while supporting the consistent, sustainable growth of the residential retrofit industry.”

Said Steve Marquart of the Laborers International Union of North America, “LIUNA is excited to be part of the CPW project. We owe a lot to the community voices who urged us to aim high. I’m proud of the result which in some ways improves on Portland experience. For example, there’s a commitment to ongoing training and workforce development, post-hire, even for non-union employers. That’s a very significant achievement.”

Seattle’s Community Power Works program received a grant from the US Department of Energy to invest in intensive, neighborhood-based energy efficiency home improvements in South East Seattle. The city is will be taking the lessons learned from the program and sharing them widely, with the rest of this city, the state, and the nation.

About Community Power Works
Community Power Works is a $140 million neighborhood-based building retrofit program to achieve deep energy efficiency and create green jobs. The Initiative will:
• Retrofit residential, commercial, hospital, and municipal buildings in the Central District and parts of Southeast Seattle.
• Achieve between 15% and 45% energy savings per building retrofitted;
• Reduce approximately 70,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases;
• Create up to 2000 new living wage green jobs;
• Leverage grant funds 7-to-1 with local investment.

About the Community High Road Agreement
This Agreement marks the City’s successful collaboration between a broad base of community stakeholders to help ensure equity for women, people of color, and other historically disadvantaged or underrepresented groups in the implementation of the residential elements of Community Power Works. Community stakeholders include: A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Batt and Lear, Building Trades Council, Casa Latina, Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, Cement Masons and Plasterers, Environmental Coalition of South Seattle, Got Green, Habitat Home Energy Audits, Home Performance, Inc., Home Performance Washington, HomeSight Washington, King County Labor Council, Laborers Local 242, LIUNA NW Region, Neighborworks, Northwest Laborer’s Training Fund, Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, Painters and Allied Trades, Puget Sound Sage, Seattle City Light, Seattle Jobs Initiative, Seattle Vocational Institute, ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, Sisters in the Building Trades, Sound Alliance, South Seattle Community College, SustainableWorks, Umojafest P.E.A.C.E. Center, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, USI, Washington National Guard, Washington Weatherizers Association, Workforce Develolpment Council of Seattle-King County, YouthCare/YouthBuild, YouthSource.

About “High Road” Standards
High-road standards are program requirements that (i) ensure broad access to the program’s economic opportunities for all types of businesses and workers; (ii) support quality training programs that set trainees on long-term, sustainable, career paths; and (iii) ensure high-quality work and efficient program operation. This Stakeholder Committee met regularly for three months and developed the set of standards set forth in this Community High-Road Agreement.

About Green For All
Green For All is a national organization dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through a clean energy economy. The organization works in collaboration with the business, government, labor, and grassroots communities to create and implement programs that increase quality jobs and opportunities in green industry – all while holding the most vulnerable people at the center of its agenda.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted by: Aaron Pickus, Assistant Communications Director