The city has created the Green Building Task Force, an advisory panel that will provide recommendations to make homes and businesses more energy efficient and climate-friendly.

Over the next six months, the task force will provide feedback to the city on a range of policies and programs that could later influence executive orders, legislation and departmental actions.

"Climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time - and no climate protection solution will be complete without a commitment to building energy efficiency," said Ash Awad, vice president of energy services for McKinstry and a Green Building Task Force member. "Seattle has the people and businesses with the creativity and capacity to tackle this problem.