RFQQ-Home Energy Score (HES) Implementation

Agency:	Thurston County
State:	Washington
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services 541690 - Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
Posted Date:	Jun 5, 2026
Due Date:	Jul 6, 2026
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RFQQ No. CPED-2026-019-RFQQ

THURSTON COUNTY GOVERNMENT

COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

3000 Paciﬁc Ave SE, Ste 100

Olympia, WA 98501

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS AND QUOTES (RFQQ) NO. CPED-2026-019-RFQQ

Home Energy Score (HES) Program Implementation

RFQQ Issue Date

June 5, 2026

RFQQ Documents

This project is a formal competitive procurement and will be advertised in “Nisqually Valley News” and

is open to all qualiﬁed companies. All solicitation documents, including any addenda, are published on

the Thurston County website at https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/ContractOpportunities

Proposer Eligibility

This competitive solicitation is open to those Vendors who satisfy the minimum

qualifications stated herein and who are available for work in Washington

State.

Proposal Due Date

4:00p.m. PST on July 6, 2026

Proposal Acceptance Location

Proposals must be submitted electronically to:

rebecca.harvey@co.thurston.wa.us

Thurston County reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals, cancel this solicitation, and to waive

any informalities or irregularities in procedure.

RFQQ No. CPED-2026-019-RFQQ

Table of Contents

SECTION 1 - PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND ......................................................................................... 3

SECTION 2 - OVERVIEW OF SRVICES REQUESTED ................................................................................ 5

SECTION 3 – ACQUISITION TIMELINE AND GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ................................................. 7

SECTION 4 - PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS........................................... 9

SECTION 5 - EVALUATION AND SELECTION ....................................................................................... 12

SECTION 6 - CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS............................................................................ 14

SECTION 7 - ATTACHMENTS ............................................................................................................. 15

ATTACHMENT 1 – U.S DEPERARTMENT OF ENERGY HOME ENERGY SCORE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

FOR PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS............................................................................................. 16

ATTACHMENT 2 – THURSTON COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 16169 ....................................................... 27

ATTACHMENT 3 – CITY OF OLYMPIA ORDINANCE NO. 7467 ............................................................. 34

ATTACHMENT 4 – CERTIFICATION AND ASSURANCES ...................................................................... 42

ATTACHMENT 5 – PROPOSER REFERENCE SHEET .............................................................................. 43

ATTACHMENT 6 – SAMPLE CONTRACT ............................................................................................. 44

RFQQ No. CPED-2026-019-RFQQ

SECTION 1 – PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

1.1 PURPOSE

Thurston County, Community Planning and Economic Development Department (COUNTY), is initiating this Request

for Qualifications and Quotations (RFQQ) to solicit proposals from private-sector parties interested in supporting the

development and implementation of a regional Home Energy Score Program for Thurston County and participating

cities. Specifically, COUNTY is seeking assistance in carrying out requirements of the U.S. Department of Energy (US

DOE) Home Energy Score Partnership Agreement for Participating Organizations (Attachment 1), and related tasks to

support program launch and implementation, as detailed in Section 2.1, Scope of Work.

COUNTY will administer the Thurston Regional HES Program to serve the geographic areas of unincorporated

Thurston County, City of Olympia, and any other cities within Thurston County that adopt an HES Ordinance.

COUNTY will execute a Professional Services Contract with the selected proposer consistent with the terms of this

RFQQ.

1.2 BACKGROUND

In 2024, the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative (TCMC) developed a model ordinance for a Residential

Energy Performance Rating and Disclosure Policy, also referred to as a Home Energy Score (HES) Ordinance. The HES

was developed by US DOE and provides an energy performance rating from 1 to 10, an estimate of annual energy

costs, and a list of cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. The HES Ordinance requires that a HES is

completed and disclosed as part of the real estate listing for subject buildings.

The TCMC aims to create a regionally consistent requirement and program by advancing the policy jointly across the

partner jurisdictions of Thurston County, City of Olympia, City of Lacey, and City of Tumwater. At the time of

publication of this RFQQ, the Home Energy Score (HES) Ordinance has been adopted by Thurston County (Ordinance

No. 16619, March 17, 2026; Attachment 2) and City of Olympia (Ordinance No. 7467, April 14, 2026; Attachment 3).

The City Councils of Tumwater and Lacey are continuing to consider the ordinance for potential adoption.

The HES Ordinances in Thurston County and Olympia are the first residential energy rating disclosure requirements

adopted by local governments in the state of Washington. The requirement is expected to take effect in Thurston

County on March 17, 2027; and in Olympia on May 1, 2027. For the purpose of this RFQQ and resulting Contract, the

expected launch date of the Thurston Regional HES Program is May 1, 2027.

US DOE requires each region of the country using the US DOE Home Energy Score (HES) tool to have a local

implementation partner. Home Energy Score Partners include various types of organizations (e.g., utilities, state

agencies, local governments, non-profits, contractor associations) that administer the delivery of the HES on a local

basis. See https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/home-energy-score/home-energy-score-partners-

become-a-partner. Prior to providing the Home Energy Score, US DOE and its Partner must sign the Partnership

Agreement for Participating Organizations (Attachment 1). Either COUNTY or Contractor will serve as Home Energy

Score Partner to US DOE, TBD after Contract execution.

1.3 OBJECTIVES

A. Develop systems, processes, and materials for a timely and effective launch of the Thurston Regional HES

Program.

B. Administer the ongoing Thurston Regional HES Program in partnership with COUNTY, participating cities,

and US DOE.

RFQQ No. CPED-2026-019-RFQQ

C. Assist in developing a highly qualified, credible HES Assessor workforce by providing training, outreach,

onboarding and mentoring for HES Assessors.

D. Engage and coordinate with independent HES Assessors working in Thurston County to ensure compliance

with:

• Thurston County Code (TCC) Chapter 14.36 Residential Energy Performance Rating and Disclosure

(Attachment 2).

• Olympia Municipal Code (OMC) Chapter 16.07 (Attachment 3).

• Similar codes in City of Tumwater and/or City of Lacey, if adopted during the contract term.

E. Support opportunities for robust and open competition among HES Assessors in Thurston County to serve

this developing market, and avoid potential conflicts of interest.

F. Ensure the accuracy and integrity of Home Energy Scores produced in compliance with TCC Chapter 14.36

and OMC Chapter 16.07, by providing quality assurance of scores produced in Thurston County.

1.4 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Private-sector entities, non-profit organizations, and community-based organizations that meet the following

minimum qualifications are encouraged to apply. Proposers who do not meet these minimum qualifications will be

rejected as non-responsive and will not be evaluated or scored.

Minimum qualifications include:

A. Current US DOE Home Energy Score Remote Service Provider; or ability to contract with a Remote Service

Provider to manage HES Assessor onboarding, training, and mentoring, and HES quality assurance.

B. Technical expertise in home energy assessment concepts, tools, and methods, specifically US DOE’s Home

Energy Score tool.

C. Recent experience (within the last 5 years) with Home Energy Score (HES) program delivery in at least one

other jurisdiction.

D. Ability to provide software solutions to generate compliant HES reports and provide a repository for HES

data that can be accessed by end users such as a local multiple listing service (MLS).

RFQQ No. CPED-2026-019-RFQQ

SECTION 2 - OVERVIEW OF SERVICES REQUESTED

2.1 SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide all materials, equipment, and labor necessary to perform this Scope of Work,

which takes place in two main phases: Program Development and Launch, and Program Implementation.

Approximate timelines for each phase are specified below.

Tasks that are required in the US DOE Partnership Agreement (Attachment 1) are indicated with an asterisk (*)

below. The Contractor must ensure that these tasks are completed in compliance with all requirements

detailed in the US DOE’s “Terms of Participation” (Attachment 1 - addendum).

A. Phase 1: Program Development and Launch

Timeline: Upon Contract Execution to April 30, 2027.

1. *Assist COUNTY in setting a target goal for number of houses to be scored in the first year and beyond.

DOE requires the Partner to commit to a minimum of 500 homes per year. (Preliminary estimate for

Thurston County: 2,434 to 3,245 homes scored in first year.)

2. *Assist COUNTY in developing an implementation plan outlining how the program will be delivered and

integrated into other Partner efforts, including plans for evaluation.

3. Develop a customized HES report for the Thurston Regional HES Program.

4. Launch IT systems, including application programming interface (API) as needed, to generate compliant

HES reports, provide a repository for local HES data, integrate HES scores/reports with the Northwest

Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), and any other software tools/systems needed for program

implementation.

5. Provide training, onboarding and mentorship to a diverse pool of locally available HES Assessors to

meet the target goal identified in Task A.1.

6. *Designate a primary point of contact for participating HES Assessors and facilitate the delivery of

required contact information to DOE.

7. *Verify that HES Assessor candidates meet credential requirements and provide DOE with the names

of the candidates.

8. Host and maintain a public-facing online database of Registered HES Assessors for the Thurston region.

9. Coordinate with NWMLS as needed to ensure that Scores put into the MLS consistently show up in

public-facing real estate listings.

10. Execute a data sharing agreement with COUNTY to share information and scoring calculations for

individual homes scored by HES Assessors in Thurston County. (Individual HES Assessors will have

access only to data that they have provided to US DOE and to HES reports generated for those homes

which the Assessor scored.)

B. Phase 2: Program Implementation

Timeline: Annual basis starting May 1, 2027.

1. Continue to perform Tasks A.5 through A.9 listed above, as needed.

2. *Inform DOE whenever an HES Assessor ceases participation under the Partner’s program.

3. *Adhere to rules regarding use of programmatic materials and the Scoring Tool, as set forth in the

This page summarizes the opportunity, including an overview and a preview of the attached documents.

Department	Description	Opening Date	Closing Date	Attachment(s)
Community Planning & Economic Development	RFQQ-Home Energy Score (HES) Implementation	06/5/2026	07/06/2026 by 4:00 PM	RFQQ Packet - Home Energy Score Implementation Department of Energy Partnership Agreement Thurston County HES Ordinance City of Olympia HES Ordinance

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