Task force tries to nail down Green Building incentives

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 23, 2020

The Bainbridge Island Green Building Task Force met recently and discussed possible incentives to get the public’s buy in.

One of the ideas was to charge a fee that could be used for other projects that would benefit the general public, such as to increase energy efficiency or community solar.

If the project itself met certain green standards, it could get that fee back.

Task force member Jonathan Davis said many builders would just pay the fee rather than be bothered by the green standards.

“Then let’s get more out of it,” he said, adding the concept of only charging $5,000 was too low to give builders incentive to do more.

After he said that, there was concern that if the amount was too high picketing could be the result.

Other ideas brought up as incentives included reduced fees and expediting the permit process.

Task force member Richard Perlot said there already are many programs available to encourage green building but most people don’t know about them. He mentioned rebates, federal government and utility company incentives, and that pooling those resources to make the incentive bigger would be attractive to some.

“Educating the public is key,” task force member Kathleen O’Brien said.

Peter Best, who leads the task force, said varied incentives work for different communities.

“”Seattle is different than Bainbridge Island,” he said, adding they should check around for examples of other efforts.