Building Tune-Up Accelerator Program
Accelerator Achieves Goal of 100+ Building Tune-Ups!
Thank you to the owners and managers of the 102 mid-size buildings that completed the Building Tune-Up Accelerator Program that ended in 2019. These buildings all had an early tune-up that met the Building Tune-Ups requirements a couple years before their compliance deadline. Total estimated savings across the 102 buildings are projected at 12.1% annually for energy (67.9 million kBtu/yr) and 12.0% for GHG emissions (EPA emissions factors).
Program Highlights:
- 102 mid-size buildings (approx. 100K SF or smaller) or 6.9 million square feet of total space tuned-up.
- 85 local service providers and/or facility staff attended Tune-Up Specialist trainings.
- All buildings completed the required Tune-Up measures and 59% indicated that at least one voluntary action was being implemented or planned.
- Of the voluntary actions underway, 20 are participating in additional utility incentive programs, such as LED upgrades.
- Five building owners worked with the UW IDL to create "Building Renewal" strategic energy management plans
- Most common required tune-up measure: adjusting HVAC schedules and most common voluntary tune-up measure: updating inefficient lighting
- Average cost per tune-up: $0.21 per SF (before City Light incentive).
- An evaluation completed in 10 buildings found that corrected tune-up measures with few exceptions were still working as intended, showing that tune-up improvements persist.
- The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) awarded the Program with its 2019 Leadership in Energy Efficiency Award for Innovation.
Get More Details in the Final Report:
- Building Tune-Up Accelerator Final Technical Report (May 2020, PDF Format)
Webinar: Accelerating Existing Building Tune-Ups in Seattle, Washington (Held 3/26/20)
In this webinar, held on 3/26/20, Nicole Ballinger, Seattle's Building Tune-up Accelerator Program Manager described the tune-up program, benefits, and best practices discovered through the pilot process. Nora Wang of Pacific Northwest National Lab described the use of the DOE Asset Score tool in building assessments.
- Watch: Webinar Recording on YouTube
- Slides: Download PDF
- Webinar Questions & Answers: Download PDF
If you are interested in learning more about the Tune-Up Accelerator, contact Nicole Ballinger at nicole.ballinger@seattle.gov.
Tune-Up Accelerator Case Studies
- Hotel Five - Tune-Up
- Verity Credit Union - Building Renewal
- Concord International Elementary School - Tune-Up
- Tallman Medical Office - Tune-Up
Tune-Up Accelerator Program - Archive Documentation
(NOTE: This program is closed and not accepting applications. Documents below are for reference only.)
- Tune-Up Accelerator Program Application (Excel)
- Tune-Up Accelerator Fact Sheet (PDF)
- Tune-Up Accelerator Provider Training Slides & Resources (PDF) - Updated 02.07.18
- Training Videos - Slides and recordings from the Tune-Up Accelerator Training held in Feb 2018.
- Re-Tuning Training (YouTube, 1 hour 22 min.) - This recorded slideshow offers a general overview of what a Tune-Up Specialist should look for when conducting a Building Tune-Up to meet Seattle's requirements. (Note: For specific compliance questions, please refer to Building Tune-Ups Compliance Page or help desk.)
- Smart Buildings Center Tool Lending Library (YouTube, 33 min.) - This recorded slideshow explains how to join and use the tool library and provides examples of how some tools can be used to conduct a Building Tune-Up.
- Tune-Up Accelerator Summary Report (Excel) - Version 2.5.1 Updated 07.27.18
- City Light TUA Operating Hours Worksheet (Excel) - Updated 06.13.18
- Monitoring & Verification (M&V) Report for City of Seattle Tune-Up Accelerator, Smart Buildings Center, January 2020