Hosted by King County GreenTools, Emerald Cities Collaborative, and Passive House NW:

Denise Fairchild will lead this conversation around building the movement for energy democracy. Denise will draw from her recent book, Energy Democracy: Advancing Equity in Clean Energy Solutions, and we will hear from local panel of experts about work going on in our region to advance community-owned energy and improve access to both energy efficiency and renewable energy. We will then dig into how to increase community development and ownership of renewable energy resources. This interactive workshop will answer some questions and pose new ones around:

- Who makes decisions about our energy systems and structures?

- What are the barriers to energy democracy broadly and in our local context?

- What assets and opportunities do we have to overcome those barriers to increase community ownership over our energy system and reduce energy burdens?

- What is the role of utilities in energy democracy, and how can they serve communities in a democratic way?

- How can we use energy democracy as tool for advancing affordable housing?

The event will also include an update on the progress of the 20 by 2020 Building Challenge, a campaign by Shift Zero, Passive House NW, Housing Development Consortium, King County GreenTools, and other partners to promote the development of at least 20 Passive House and net zero buildings, 20,000 square feet or larger in size, by 2020 in King County. The update will include a report on HDC’s new Exemplary Buildings Pilot Program and its progress in charting a pathway to ultra-energy efficiency that is equitable and financially sustainable for affordable housing providers. Attendees will learn how 20 by 2020 and the HDC Exemplary Buildings Pilot can help propel energy democracy in the buildings sector and how to get involved.