From: Patti L Fry <pattilfry_at_(domain_name_was_removed)>
Date: Wed Mar 12 2008 - 14:03:38 PST

Dear Council and staff,

I would like to expand upon my comments made during last evening's Council meeting regarding FY09 budget support for sustainable building. As a Green Ribbon Citizens' Committee (GRCC) member, I participated actively in the Sustainable Building workgroup that also included a number of local building professionals. Our original, primary recommendation regarding Sustainable Building guidelines, made last fall to the city, was not intended to require the level of staff effort estimated in last evening's budget priorities discussion document.

Before making more clear what we had intended, in hopes that your next discussion might be more fully informed, I do want to apologize for the fact that none of us from the working group were able to adjust our schedules to attend the Planning Commission's budget discussion or the joint staff/GRCC meeting of last week.

Specifically, our proposal related to promoting the use of sustainable building practices was, at a high level:

***Promote sustainable building practices by instituting checklists that are
based on standards established and maintained by "green building" programs such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BIG (Build It Green), and by providing over-achievement incentive of expedited building permit approval:*

*i. Phase-in over time, required levels of conformance to allow
familiarity and skills to develop, in the following order: municipal, commercial, residential. *

*ii. Obtain California Energy Commission approval necessary for cityrequired
 compliance standards. This takes time.*

*iii. By end of FY 2009, establish target duration for building permit
approvals for residential projects and for commercial projects, including new construction/additions and common repairs/remodels [assumes project submissions are complete and in conformance with Municipal Code]. *

*iv. **By FY2010, expedite building permit approvals for projects that
achieve at least 15% above minimum requirements set in a compliance timetable that is established.*

EXAMPLE (drawing on San Francisco, San Rafael, Palo Alto guidelines) 

	Construction Type	Guidelines	Compliance Required, starting:
			July 1 2008	July 1 2009	July 1 2010	July 1 2011	July 1 2012
Municipal projects	New construction	LEED	Certify (equivalent)	silver	silver	silver	silver
	Remodel > 5000 SF	LEED	Certify (equivalent)	silver	silver	silver	silver
Commercial Projects	New construction	LEED	Fill out checklist	Register	Certify	silver	silver
	Remodel > 5,000 SF	LEED	Fill out checklist	Register	Certify, specified areas	Certify, specified areas	Certify, specified areas
Residential Projects .multi-family	New construction	BIG/LEED	Fill out checklist	25 points	60 points	75 points	100 points
	Remodel > 1000 SF or 50% value	BIG/LEED	Fill out checklist	25 points	50 points	75 points	100 points
Residential Projects . single family	New construction; remodels	BIG/ LEED	Fill out checklist	Certify	60 points; 50 points	60 points; 50 points	60 points; 50 points
	Homes >3,500 SF (new or remodeled)	Title 24	Fill out checklist	Comply w/ stds for 3,500 SF home	Comply w/ stds for 3,500 SF home	Comply w/ stds for 3,500 SF home	Comply w/ stds for 3,500 SF home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        [Note: assumes no points are granted for Title 24 requirements, evaluations are based on gross square footage]

 

From our review of actions taken by other cities, preliminary discussions with staff last fall, and input from organizations promoting sustainable building practices, we believe that a practical and relatively inexpensive approach to implementing guidelines during the upcoming fiscal year would involve:

1. City uses LEED guidelines equivalent to certification level for all new or major remodel *municipal* projects [*cost implication unknown, and depends upon specific projects planned - if any]*
2. City requires submission of completed BIG/LEED checklist by all commercial and residential applicants for new construction and major remodel projects. The intent is to help educate applicants and their design professionals. Staff is* not *asked to review the checklists for accuracy or for achievement of standards. *[cost implication - minor (should be a written description of requirement)]*
3. City evaluates the current permit processes in order to identify duration and opportunities to reduce the time for applicants who, in the future, overachieve minimum standards that will be set. This study could provide information of benefit to other important city goals, such as improving/streamlining commercial development process. *[budget implication: study of current permit process, possibly by consultant. Cost tbd] *
4. GRCC workgroup continues its efforts to gather information to aid the future setting of standards for achievement, working with building professionals and organizations. It is our intent to provide detailed information to relieve the burden on city staff or hired consultant. *[budget impact - very minor, limited to nominal interaction with staff to ensure that GRCC work will be helpful and usable in the future].* Examples:
   • Compile information about guidelines and standards used by other communities (already well underway).
     • Solicit feedback from key stakeholders
     • Summarize above information and recommend standards and timing for Menlo Park.

We understand that these recommendations would require additional review and feedback as part of the normal public process before standards would be implemented, preferably beginning some time during FY10.

Because buildings represent 40% of energy use and 70% of electricity use, we believe it is important for the City of Menlo Park to adopt these recommendations promptly. By doing so, our city would join the rapidly growing number of communities who have already moved along this path to conserving energy and scarce resources.

We hope this information will be helpful to the Council. We encourage you to move "above the line" the first steps to instituting Sustainable Building guidelines. During our ranking process, the GRCC rated sustainable building practices as one of our very highest priorities, second only to embarking on development of a Climate Action Plan (thank you for approving that!) and well above other GRCC recommendations.

Please let me know if we can provide any additional information to you prior to your next budget discussion.

Respectfully yours,
Patti Fry Received on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:03:38 -0700