This map depicts the Inaugural Partners in the SEED Platform Collaborative.
The SEED Platform Collaborative provides a peer community for public agencies that are tracking building energy performance data using the Standard Energy Efficiency Data Platform™ (SEED Platform). Member public agencies (and Inaugural Partners, detailed below) share best practices and information with one another, and engage with Technical Allies and Affiliate organizations. Software developers and web hosting providers can participate in the Collaborative as Technical Allies to offer SEED Platform web-hosting and other value-added services needed by users of the SEED Platform. Major nonprofit organizations have also joined as Affiliates to help promote adoption of the SEED Platform and participation in the Collaborative, and to share lessons learned.
DOE established the SEED Platform Collaborative with the goal of helping cities, counties, states, and other public agencies successfully transition to using the SEED Platform to manage building energy performance data. This performance data will allow public and private entities to analyze and identify the best opportunities for improving building performance.
Get Involved
Opportunities exist for involvement in the SEED Platform Collaborative as Members, Technical Allies, and Affiliates – each is detailed below.
Members of the SEED Platform Collaborative are city, county, and state governments, or other public agencies, that use the SEED Platform and share the vision of utilizing building performance data to inform public and private investment decisions affecting energy and buildings
Members have access to quarterly Collaborative calls and a web-based user forum. Collaborative Members can also explore opportunities with our Technical Allies to receive additional technical support or custom features connected to their SEED Platform application. To become a new Member of the SEED Platform Collaborative, please tell us about your interest through our Interest Form.
Inaugural Partners
The Inaugural Partners – 10 cities, 1 county, and 1 state – are the first-movers implementing the SEED Platform and have been selected to receive free web-hosting for their SEED Platform accounts, intensive technical assistance, and priority input on new development for three years, in exchange for testing new features and sharing their experiences with the broader community.
Each Inaugural Partner and how they currently, or plan to, utilize the SEED Platform is detailed below:
Atlanta, Georgia, will use the SEED Platform to help manage incoming building performance data for their upcoming benchmarking compliance deadlines.
Berkeley, California, is using the SEED Platform to collect and store data from their Building Energy Saving Ordinance for all buildings and potentially connect to other local database systems.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, is using the SEED Platform to maintain a list of buildings that need to comply with their Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance and to manage building performance data.
The California Energy Commission will use the SEED Platform as part of the data infrastructure necessary to support implementation of California’s Assembly Bill 802.
Houston, Texas, will use the SEED Platform to track municipal building energy performance data and better understand their local building stock.
Kansas City, Missouri, plans to use the SEED Platform to manage municipal building performance data and private building performance data during the implementation of their Energy Empowerment Ordinance.
Montgomery County, Maryland, will use the SEED Platform to help implement their Building Energy Benchmarking Law and track building performance data.
New York City, New York, is planning to use the SEED Platform to manage building performance data from their Local Law 84 as well easily share this data between departments.
Orlando, Florida, plans to use the SEED Platform to track municipal building performance information and store information on their local commercial building stock.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, plans to use the SEED Platform to help in the implementation of their Benchmarking Ordinance and create connections between the building data and internal communications platforms.
Salt Lake City, Utah, is using the SEED Platform to better understand its local building stock and generate a more accurate and complete database of buildings.
Washington, D.C. plans to use the SEED Platform to track and store information from their benchmarking ordinance, as well as to share the information among agencies and connected tools.
Technical Allies are private companies and other entities that offer SEED Platform hosting services, have contributed code to the master branch of the open source codebase, or developed a plug-in app. SEED Technical Allies can also offer SEED users technical support, IT integration, training, or other services.
Current SEED Collaborative Technical Allies
Performance Systems Development
To become a SEED Technical Ally, please see the LBNL SEED Platform Software Support site.
SEED Affiliates are not-for-profit organizations that support and promote building energy efficiency, and play an integral role in promoting the use of the SEED Platform and supporting the user community through the SEED Platform Collaborative. Affiliates may provide forums to discuss key issues, planning for solutions, and amplify the benefits energy data provides for decision-making in the buildings market.
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
Energy consumed in buildings account for up to 75 percent of all carbon emissions in C40 Cities in the United States, meaning cities need to understand how best to tackle the sector. Better management and understanding of building data allows cities to target policies and programs that will have the greatest impact on emissions."C40 is pleased to join the SEED Collaborative. We know action comes about more quickly and at a lower cost when cities share knowledge, collaborate, and work with the private sector, state officials, and national leaders."
-- Mark Watts, executive director, C40 Cities Climate Leadership GroupInstitute for Market Transformation
"Collaboration in identifying, establishing, and standardizing best practices on the use of building performance data is a critical step in moving the larger market toward more efficient buildings—a transformation that will benefit a vast number of cities, building owners, and occupants. IMT is proud to participate in the SEED Collaborative and build upon the diverse perspectives its participants, partners, and DOE bring to the table in this important endeavor."
-- Cliff Majersik, executive director, Institute for Market TransformationNatural Resources Defense Council
"We live in a Big Data world and the SEED Collaborative gives us the tools we need to talk to each other about the most effective ways to use our natural resources by saving energy in the very buildings that give our cities their unique character. The SEED Collaborative is a remarkable partnership that solves the problem of lack of access to information enabling cities to make good decisions on energy efficiency in buildings. We at NRDC are committed to scaling up good solutions and we are excited to work with the innovative leaders at the Department of Energy to make this happen."
-- Shelley Poticha, director, Urban Solutions program at the Natural Resources Defense CouncilNational League of Cities
"Cities that efficiently utilize and understand the data they collect can provide greater service to their residents. The SEED Collaborative is an important step for cities and local governments so they can make smarter decisions about how to use data more effectively."
-- Clarence E. Anthony, CEO and executive director, National League of CitiesNational Association of State Energy Officials
"The SEED Collaborative is another example of what State Energy Offices can achieve with their local government, private, and federal partners. This effort takes the data conversation out of the abstract and provides a platform for states to continue to innovate by effectively managing and comparing building energy consumption and the efficacy of efforts aimed at improving the efficiency in the institutional and commercial building stock."
-- David Terry, executive director, National Association of State Energy Officials
