Summary

Building on progress to make King County’s built environment greener and healthier, Executive Constantine wants to provide more equitable access to low-interest home improvement loans that improve air quality and cut greenhouse gas emissions with a new program in his proposed budget.

Story

King County Executive Dow Constantine today announced a proposal to make it possible for more homeowners to get the financing they need to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy for heating, cooling, and cooking. The clean home energy program, modeled after a successful counterpart program in Snohomish County, is part of the Executive’s proposed budget, set to be presented to the King County Council on Tuesday.

It is the latest in a series of actions Executive Constantine is taking to transition the region’s built environment – the source of nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions – making it greener, healthier, and safer by providing more equitable access to low-interest home improvement loans.

“The people of King County want to contribute to climate solutions, but retrofitting homes is an expensive undertaking, and this program will make it easier for more families to access low-cost loans and get high-efficiency heat pumps installed,” Executive Constantine said. “We can help more families save money, be ready for the next heat wave, and prepare for the climate impacts of the future, and that’s exactly what my proposal will do.” 

The initiative will provide private lenders with more flexibility to offer financing to homeowners – who might not have qualified before – with better interest rates and longer loan terms for home upgrades. Examples could include switching to clean energy heat pumps, installing renewable energy such as solar panels, gas conversions, upgrading windows, new water heaters, and energy-efficient appliances.

It would leverage nearly $2 million in new federal funding included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law designated for energy efficiency by acting as the reserve that protects against loan loss or defaults, reducing the risk to private lenders. It would help more middle- and low-income homeowners convert from outdated and dirty fossil fuel heating and cooling systems to cleaner electric ones.

Snohomish County first developed a solution to leverage federal grants in 2009, because state lending laws do not allow local governments to use their own funding. The creation of a Loan Loss Reserve Program using about $600,000 in federal funding and a partnership with Puget Sound Consumer Credit Union to put up the reserve required, has led to more than $23 million in home energy use reduction loans in 13 years.

“Snohomish County’s Energy Smart Loan Program has provided more than $20 million for our residents who want to make their homes more energy efficient,” said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. “That means we have saved billions of BTUs of energy, significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and provided increased value for homeowners. This helps us achieve our environmental sustainability goals, and I applaud King County for launching a program that can have even greater regional impacts."

The new King County program would start by helping homeowners replace their old heating system with a heat pump, which is the most efficient, environmentally friendly way to heat and cool a home using clean electricity rather than fossil fuels.

This would be in addition to a program that Executive Constantine launched in 2021 that makes low-interest loans available to eligible commercial and multi-family buildings, which includes energy and water efficiency, energy storage, electric vehicle charging, and more. The King County Council also adopted proposals by Executive Constantine to strengthen building and energy codes in unincorporated communities, reducing gas consumption for traditional heating systems and encouraging the use of renewable energy.

Making the built environment resilient to climate impacts

The built environment – homes, workplaces, and other structures – accounted for 46% of countywide greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, just behind emissions from vehicles. The use of natural gas for cooking, heating, and water heaters accounted for 15% of total emissions.

By making access to low-interest home improvement loans more equitable, more frontline communities – those disproportionally impacted by climate change – will live in homes that are better equipped for prolonged heat waves and wildfire smoke that are occurring more frequently due to climate change.

The new program would support goals established in King County’s 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan, committed to cutting countywide greenhouse gas emissions, building sustainable and resilient frontline communities, and preparing for climate impacts.

Relevant links

• VIDEO: Making County homes greener
• King County's 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan
• U.S Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program

Quotes

The people of King County want to contribute to climate solutions, but retrofitting homes is an expensive undertaking, and this program will make it easier for more families to access low-cost loans and get high-efficiency heat pumps installed. We can help more families save money, be ready for the next heat wave, and prepare for the climate impacts of the future, and that’s exactly what my proposal will do.

Snohomish County’s Energy Smart Loan Program has provided more than $20 million for our residents who want to make their homes more energy efficient. That means we have saved billions of BTUs of energy, significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and provided increased value for homeowners. This helps us achieve our environmental sustainability goals, and I applaud King County for launching a program that can have even greater regional impacts.

For more information, contact:

Kristin Elia, Executive Office, 206-369-7169