Top Environmental Strategies for Infrastructure Projects—King County

One of the key services King County provides to its residents is maintaining and constructing roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. The County also has a strong commitment to environmental stewardship. In support of the King County Green Building Ordinance, this guide provides King County project managers resources for complying with the Ordinance. The goal of this document is to provide an easily accessible compilation of the best and most relevant environmental strategies for infrastructure projects in the County’s Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) and Road Services Division (RSD). Each design decision made by the project team has a long-term impact on King County – its environment, its resources, its residents. By implementing environmentally preferable building practices, each project helps create a more sustainable future.

King County Green Building Ordinance

In February of 2005, Ordinance #15118 was adopted by the King County Council. The ordinance directs all King County projects to incorporate green building practices, and achieve a LEED rating for applicable projects. LEED is the voluntary green building benchmarking system, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, created by the United States Green Building Council in 1995. Since LEED was designed primarily for buildings, obtaining an actual rating is not applicable to most infrastructure projects; however project managers can implement applicable green design, construction and maintenance strategies within the scope of infrastructure projects.

Projects Applicable to Green Strategies

The Top Environmental Strategies are intended for use by the WLRD and RSD, but can be used as a guide for any project site design. WLRD and RSD projects fall under the umbrella of Transportation Infrastructure; these projects are related to transportation right-of-way, and any facilities that serve to support these areas. The largest portions of these projects, based on area, are the roads, bridges, sidewalks and adjacent properties that are maintained by the County. However, because these project areas are part of an extensive connectivity infrastructure, their impacts on adjacent non-County land must also be addressed.

Other considerations included in this guide are related to the operation and maintenance of the Roads Division projects. A significant amount of County utility costs are attributed to lighting, signals, switching, cameras and the intelligent traffic systems. Furthermore, the County retains a large fleet of vehicles and equipment that are used long-term for a variety of projects. Therefore, the strategies discussed in this document should be considered for all aspects of WLRD and RSD, from design and construction to maintenance and operations.

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