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Energize - Community Spaces
The Energize – Community Spaces program provides services and County-managed installations in community-facing buildings to improve energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and building occupant comfort, and to lower energy costs. This program is open to non-government owned community spaces located in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.
Program applications are open! Deadline to apply is April 20, 2026.
- Click, tap or enter to apply.
- Support for completing the program application is available on a limited basis. If your organization would like to request support filling out the application, please review the program information below and then complete the Application Support Request Form.
What does the program provide?
This program provides the following services to community spaces:
Technical assistance to better understand energy usage within a building, develop a plan to reduce GHG emissions and improve comfort of building occupants, and create a project plan for the installation of weatherization and electric heat pump heating/cooling systems.
Heat pump installation to provide high efficiency heating and cooling
Insulation, air sealing, and ventilation (also known as weatherization) to improve energy efficiency, health, and comfort
King County will manage all installations, including covering the costs of equipment and materials, and hiring and paying contractors. This is not a grant program.
Who is eligible for this program?
- Non-government community entities that own, operate, or lease a building that meets the following criteria:
- Serves as a community gathering space or offers a community service (for example: foodbanks, places of worship, community centers, skills training centers, etc.)
- Is located in King, Kitsap, Pierce, or Snohomish Counties.
- Is located in or serves frontline communities.
For the purposes of this program, community spaces are defined as buildings that serve as gathering spaces and/or provide in-person, onsite community services.
Definitions
Buildings - Enclosed structures that are fully protected from the elements.
Gathering spaces - Indoor areas in which large groups of people intentionally congregate (for example: community centers, community performing arts centers, school buildings, etc.).
Spaces that provide community services - Indoor areas used for in-person, onsite activities that directly enable people to improve their lives (for example: skills training sites, food banks, libraries, etc.).
This program prioritizes community spaces located in frontline communities, defined as those located in any of the following geographies:
- Puget Sound Clean Air Agency overburdened communities
- WA Environmental Health Disparities Map score of 9 or more
- 2024 U.S. EPA defined low-income and disadvantaged communities
Generally, these geographies share poorer air and soil quality, higher noise pollution, closer proximity to hazardous waste treatment and storage facilities, and greater risk of related negative health outcomes. Additionally, they experience reduced resiliency to climate change.
Search your address on the map at the bottom of this page to see if your property is located in a frontline community geography.
While not an eligibility requirement, it’s anticipated that most buildings selected for this program will be 10,000 square feet or smaller.
Program Cost
King County will cover 100% of costs of installations within the project scope (up to $100,000 in costs), including managing all installation contractors and covering costs of equipment, materials, and labor.How do I apply?
Applications are now open! Deadline to apply is April 20, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
- Click, tap or enter to apply.
- Support for completing the program application is available on a limited basis. If your organization would like to request support filling out the application, please review the program information below and then complete the Application Support Request Form.
Please review instructions and a list of application questions to support information collection and drafting short narrative responses before completing the online application.
Information sessions
- King County hosted an Information Session about Energize – Community Spaces on January 22, 2026. Please refer to the recording of the presentation. Responses to all questions asked during the Info Session are also below.
- View the slides from that presentation.
- King County intends to host another information session in February or March 2026. Stay tuned for the date!
Frequently asked questions
Updated January 26, 2026
Would a government community center that serves seniors, youth, and families be eligible?
To be eligible for this program, a building must be OWNED by a non-government entity. Buildings that are owned by governments are not eligible for this program (however, such buildings are eligible for the Building Decarbonization Grant for Local Governments).
To be eligible the Energize – Community Spaces program, buildings must be owned by non-government entities and meet all of the following criteria:
- Serve as a community gathering space or offers a community service (for example: foodbanks, places of worship, community centers, skills training centers, etc.)
- Located in King, Kitsap, Pierce, or Snohomish Counties.
- Located in or serve frontline communities.
Would a privately owned building that is leased by government for community services be eligible for Energize – Community Spaces?
Any buildings that are owned by a non-government entity and meets the following criteria are eligible to apply for the program:
- Serve as a community gathering space or offers a community service1 (for example: foodbanks, places of worship, community centers, skills training centers, etc.)
- Located in King, Kitsap, Pierce, or Snohomish Counties.
- Located in or serve frontline communities.
Is insulation included in weatherization? Are doors and window replacement included in weatherization?
In Energize – Community Spaces, weatherization includes any of the following:
- Insulation
- Air sealing
- Ventilation upgrades
Replacement of windows and/or doors is not included in the program services.
Will King County be hosting additional Energize – Community Spaces Information Sessions? Will they all be the same slides and content?
King County anticipates hosting one (and possibly two) additional Information Sessions for the Energize – Community Spaces program. The next Information Session will likely be in February or March 2026, and registration information will be posted on this website.
Information Sessions for Energize – Community Spaces generally use the same slide deck and cover the same material.
If you have additional questions about the program, please send an email to CPRG@kingcounty.gov and include “Energize - Community Spaces” in the subject line.
Will applications be scored on a rolling bases or will they all be scored after the April 20 application deadline?
Applications will be scored and program participants selected after the application deadline of April 20. However, eligible entities are encouraged to apply sooner rather than later. Eligible entities interested in requesting support in completing the application are especially encouraged to submit their requests sooner rather than later so that we can ensure sufficient time and resources to provide that support.
Does a building that has offices and only a portion is used for skills training and community events qualify?
If any portion of a building serves as a community gathering space or provides onsite, in-person community services, AND the building meets the other eligibility requirements outlined on the program website, then the building is eligible to apply for the program.
If a project costs more than $100,000 due to the size of the building, would the building still be eligible to apply?
Applicants that are selected for the Energize – Community Spaces program will be given technical assistance services to assess building systems and energy usage, as well as develop a project plan. During that process, if the project plan estimates a budget greater than $100,000, the program participant will have the opportunity to independently find additional funds to cover the remainder of project costs.
If a building isn't in a frontline community geography on the map on the program website, is it not eligible for the program? If our address is NOT in a frontline community, should we not apply?
To be eligible for the Energize – Community Spaces program, a building must be located in OR serve frontline communities. The map on the program website enables users to look up a building’s address and see if it is located in a frontline community (among other geographies).
If a building is not located in a frontline community but it serves frontline communities, it is still eligible to apply for the program and should describe the communities it serves in the application question that asks for that information. In this case, be sure to describe how the building serves frontline communities.
If a building is across the street from an Extreme Heat Mitigation Priority Area, is there any way it would still count as a Frontline Community?
While sometimes overlapping in geography, Extreme Heat Mitigation Priority Areas are different than Frontline Communities. To be eligible for Energize – Community Spaces, a building must be located in OR serve frontline communities. The map on the program website shows whether an address is:
- Located in Frontline Communities.
- Located in an Extreme Heat Mitigation Priority Area.
- Located in both.
- Located in neither.
If a building is located in Frontline Communities, and meets the other eligibility criteria outlined on the program website, it is eligible to apply for the program.
A building does not need to be located in an Extreme Heat Mitigation Priority Area to be eligible for the program.
How flexible will you be with the number of awards?
This program has roughly $6 million to fund heat pump installation, weatherization, and decarbonization planning (technical assistance) in community-oriented buildings across the 4-county region. It’s anticipated this will cover the costs for about 40 projects, with a target of 20 projects in King County, 11 in Pierce County, 7 in Snohomish County, and 2 in Kitsap County. However, those numbers are flexible targets and may fluctuate depending on resource availability and project costs.
If my organization is not eligible, could one of us volunteer to help others complete the application?
If an organization isn’t eligible for this program, they are welcome to support others in completing the application. Energize – Community Spaces also offers free support for entities to complete the application. Please see the “How do I apply?” section above.