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Kirkland, WA has approximately 84,000 residents, making it the 12^th largest city in Washington State.  The community is known for its walkable downtown with a waterfront along Lake Washington, as well as its parks and trails, including the Cross-Kirkland Corridor. It is home to many Microsoft employees, as well as a Google office, and the web company Go Daddy.  In 2014, Money ranked Kirkland the fifth best place to live in the U.S.

In 2005, the Kirkland City Council signed the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, and directed staff to develop a Climate Action Plan. In 2007, this staff group merged with other teams focused on natural resources management and green building, to form an official Green Team.  

In 2011, Kirkland was one of the founding members of the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C). In 2014, Kirkland commissioned an Energy Map and Carbon Wedge analysis from New Energy Cities, along with a process for prioritization of community-wide carbon reduction strategies. This work led to the Kirkland City Council adoption of the K4C Joint County-City Climate Commitments in October 2014.