AGENDA #4
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Public Forum: Proposed Revisions to the Town’s Energy Conservation Ordinance
DATE: February 21, 2005
The Council called tonight’s forum to receive public comment on a proposal from the Council Committee on Sustainability, Energy and Environment to revise the Town’s Energy Conservation Ordinance (please see draft Ordinance A in Attachment 1 for a copy of the proposal).
The proposal would require sustainable design features to be incorporated in Town facilities by requiring attainment of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) “Silver” certification for construction of new and expanded Town facilities.
Also attached is a proposed alternative approach which would:
BACKGROUND
On May 12, 1997, the Council adopted an ordinance titled Energy Conservation in Design and Construction of New and Renovated Town Buildings (see Attachment 4). The ordinance requires in part that Town-funded buildings achieve a goal of using at least 30 percent less energy usage than required by the State Building Codes.
On February 26, 2004, the Council Committee on Sustainability, Energy and Environment initially discussed options for revising the current Energy Conservation Ordinance. The Committee continued discussions of options at meetings in September and October 2004.
On October 26, 2004, the Committee agreed to recommend that the Council consider a draft LEED-based Energy Conservation Ordinance.
On November 8, 2004, the Council Committee presented its report to Council (please see Attachment 5). The report listed a number of issues upon which the Committee seeks public comment. At that time, the Council adopted a resolution scheduling a Public Forum for February 21, 2005, and referred the proposal to the Manager, Town Attorney, and advisory boards for comment.
DISCUSSION
The Town’s 1989 Comprehensive Plan contained a policy that “the Town shall encourage site planning, landscaping, and structure design which maximizes the potential for energy conservation by reducing the demand for artificial heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, and facilitating the use of solar and other energy resources.” On April 23, 2001, the Council amended the 2000 Comprehensive Plan to also include this policy.
Current Ordinance
The 1997 ordinance is contained in the Town Code, Article VII, Energy Conservation in Design and Construction of New and Renovated Town Buildings. The ordinance is designed to carry out the Town’s Comprehensive Plan policy. The ordinance sets a goal of achieving at least 30 percent less energy in buildings built with Town funds. The ordinance also sets standards for the qualifications of architects, provides for energy performance monitoring and reporting, and specifies the types of energy saving features that shall be considered for new Town buildings and renovations of existing Town buildings.
In its November 8, 2005 report to the Council, the Council Committee on Sustainability, Energy, and Environment cited the following issues related to the enforcement of the existing ordinance:
· The standard requiring that buildings be designed so that they use 30 percent less energy than required under State Building Code requirements “in effect as of February 1, 1997” is open to interpretation, and can be confusing and complicated. Therefore, it is difficult to measure compliance.
· The requirement that the building’s architect return 12 months after completion of the project with a written report on the energy performance of the building reflects an evaluation period that is too short to collect meaningful data on energy performance.
· The list of energy efficient technologies in Section 5-125 can become outdated over time.
LEED Certification Process
The Council Committee proposal would replace the stipulations in the existing ordinance with an approach establishing a LEED “silver” certification standard for new Town facilities. It would apply to new construction and additions to existing buildings and facilities with a gross occupied area of over 5,000 square feet, and allow for waiver consideration by the Council for new structures of less than 5,000 square feet.
The LEED certification process involves submittal of design documents, including the site plan, floor plan, and building elevations, to the U.S. Green Building Council for review. The project would have to meet all of the basic design prerequisites and achieve a minimum number of points to attain a LEED rating of certification, silver, gold or platinum. Silver certification requires a determination by the Green Building Council that a project has achieved a total of at least 33 points (please see Attachment 6).
After the Green Building Council’s certification decision is accepted by the applicant, the building may then be referred to as a “LEED certified building.” The applicant is presented with an award letter, certificate and LEED plaque indicating the certification level. An applicant has 30 days to appeal to the Green Building Council for reconsideration of credits denied during the certification review.
Examples of criteria include reduction of light pollution, stormwater management, provision of alternative transportation, water-efficient landscaping, renewable energy systems, use of at least 20 percent of materials manufactured locally, use of low-emitting paints and other materials, and innovation in design.
KEY ISSUES
Below we respond to key issues the Council Committee listed in its November 8, 2004 memo to the Council for public comment and further study.
1. What is the potential added cost of achieving the LEED silver certification and should we accept the added cost for future projects?
The Council Committee heard a presentation from Cindy Shea, the University’s energy coordinator, that the LEED certification process need not be more expensive if long-term cost savings due to reduced energy bills are included in the calculation.
Staff Comment: The sustainability features needed to achieve the silver certification likely would result in increases in construction costs by comparison to traditional methods. Potential additional costs include installation of renewable energy systems such as solar panels, installation of a carbon dioxide monitoring system, inclusion of a daylighting system in the design, and implementation of additional construction waste management practices.
The impact on project costs is unclear. For example, the design of the Town Operations Facility suggests that the project could qualify for at least the silver, possibly a “gold” certification. In that case, the proposed ordinance would not require additional improvements over what the Town already planned for the facility. Features of the project that could merit points on the LEED checklist include the biodiesel station, alternative transportation access, rainwater reuse, geothermal heating, daylighting, and porous pavement.
Redesigning the $5.5 million Homestead Park Aquatic Center to achieve Silver certification likely would result in construction cost increases. We are studying the cost implications and will report on the findings to the Council at a later date.
An October 2004 consultant study conducted for the U.S. General Services Administration provides an indication of the costs associated with the LEED process. The study estimated that achieving the LEED certification standard would add approximately 2.5 to 4 percent to project costs.
The addition of the design features required to achieve the LEED Silver rating would result in energy savings over time that would help offset the initial investment.
The certification fees for the LEED review process are relatively small. The proposal would require the Town to pay the U.S. Green Building Council fees for the initial project registration and detailed certification review; these fees would total $2,250 for a building that is smaller than 75,000 square feet.
2. What is the appropriate threshold for requiring certification? The proposal would require certification of Town buildings of at least 5,000 square feet and allow a Council waiver for smaller projects.
The current Town ordinance applies to all new construction and renovation projects. The Council Committee discussed whether to institute a threshold to eliminate the applicability to smaller Town projects.
Staff Comment: The 5,000-square-foot threshold likely would capture most future new Town facilities and major expansions. Examples of existing Town facilities that are at least 5,000 square feet include Town Hall (32,000 square feet), the Chapel Hill Community Center (23,000 square feet) and the Old Post Office (16,000 square feet). Buildings smaller than 5,000 square feet include Fire Stations Number 2, 3 and 4, which total between 3,600 and 4,100 square feet.
A list of Town facilities and their size is included as Attachment 7.
The proposal does not specifically address whether new projects underway would be required to achieve the Silver certification. For example, the Town Operations Center and the Homestead Park Aquatic Center both easily exceed 5,000 square feet, totaling approximately 150,000 and 28,000 square feet respectively.
We believe the Town Operations Center, currently under construction, may achieve the Silver certification as designed. We are researching the LEED application procedure for projects which have completed the design stage. If applied to the Aquatic Center, we anticipate that the LEED standards would require that project to be redesigned to achieve the Silver level of certification and could necessitate the addition of features currently not in the project budget such as a solar pool heating system and daylighting.
An issue is whether a Council waiver should be allowed for certain types of Town facilities. The proposal would require that the Town achieve a Silver rating for all facilities larger than 5,000 square feet, with no opportunity for a Council waiver. We believe this could present a problem for the Town for projects such as the construction of a large equipment storage shed, a building where the LEED standard may be difficult to achieve because of a lack of opportunities to reduce energy use and meet other criteria on the LEED checklist.
Another issue is whether any new or renovated residential properties managed by the Housing Department should be exempted. We believe that it would be difficult to retrofit existing public housing buildings to meet LEED standards.
3. Should the existing ordinance be revised or repealed in favor of adopting a LEED-based policy by resolution?
The Council Committee is seeking comment on whether the energy provisions of the Town should continue to be in ordinance form or instead be adopted by resolution as a Town policy.
Staff Comment: We believe that the appropriate format for carrying out the Town’s commitment to energy conservation is by Town Council policy, as articulated by a Council resolution. Ordinances are generally limited to regulation of subjects for which it is appropriate to enact a community standard of general applicability. Historically, policies such as the proposed energy conservation policies are adopted by resolution.
Codifying the language in an ordinance does not prevent it from being changed or rescinded by the Council in the future. Both an ordinance approach and a policy approach can be changed in about 30 days by succeeding Councils, an ordinance by six votes on first reading or five on two successive readings and a policy by majority vote on first reading.
Codifying the proposal in an ordinance would require the Town to meet the Silver certification standard for all projects larger than 5,000 square feet. Meeting the standard could prove difficult and expensive for some projects due to factors such as site constraints and the type of facility being built, such as an equipment storage facility.
Wording could be added to the draft proposal to provide the Council flexibility to allow a project to achieve less than a Silver certification under certain circumstances.
4. Should the Comprehensive Plan be amended to include language about the LEED-based energy conservation proposal to adopt an energy policy by reference?
As reviewed above, the Comprehensive Plan contains the following language: “The Town shall encourage site planning, landscaping, and structure design which maximize the potential for energy conservation by reducing the demand for artificial heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting, and facilitating the use of solar and other energy resources.”
Staff Comment: The intent of the LEED-based proposal is in conformance with the current Comprehensive Plan language. If the Council desires, the language could be revised in the next update of the Comprehensive Plan to include specific references to the LEED review process.
5. Should a Town staff member receive LEED certification training? If so, how would this be included in the budget?
The proposal would include a requirement that the design and management teams for Town buildings include a LEED-certified architect or engineer. The Council Committee seeks input on whether it would also be desirable for Town staff to be certified.
Staff Comment: Building Maintenance Manager Forrest Heath has recently completed LEED training in Philadelphia and at the University of North Carolina. Certification requires passing the LEED version 2.1 certification exam. The exam will cost $250 plus travel expenses. The Town has incurred $720 in expenses for the LEED Training thus far in 2004-05. There is an additional $2,400 budget request for 2005-06, to cover the cost of additional LEED training to prepare for the certification exam.
ADVISORY BOARD COMMENTS
Advisory Board comments are included as Attachment 8.
Library Board (January 10, 2005): The Library Board listed concerns about the potential impact of higher construction costs on the planned expansion of the Library, and the potential negative impact of certain environmental design features on the Library collection.
Planning Board (January 18, 2005) Planning Board comments include a recommendation that the Town amend the current ordinance rather than instituting a policy, support for the 5,000-square-foot threshold as proposed, and a recommendation to conduct a study of the costs and benefits associated with instituting the proposal.
Housing and Community Development Advisory Board (January 25, 2005): The Housing Board stated its concern about potential difficulty finding funds to cover increased construction costs should proposed reductions in federal funding go through. The Board recommended that the proposal clearly state what constitutes a “Town” project, citing a situation where a nonprofit’s project includes some Town support such as funding or donation of land.
The Community Design Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission are scheduled to discuss the item on Wednesday, February 16, 2005.
SUMMARY
Adopting a LEED process would have several advantages over the existing ordinance, including the establishment of a clearly spelled out procedure, the role of a third party to make an independent assessment, and the use of nationally recognized standards.
However, requiring a Silver certification for buildings larger than 5,000 square feet may be problematic depending on the type of project, such as construction of a new equipment storage building or rebuilding a public housing structure after a fire. An alternative approach would be for the Council to establish the LEED Silver certification as a Council policy statement, which would provide flexibility to adjust to special circumstances.
In addition, we believe that the appropriate process for adopting a LEED certification standard would be by rescinding the existing ordinance in favor of a Council policy stated in a resolution. Codifying the language in an ordinance does not prevent it from being changed or rescinded by the Council in the future. An ordinance or a policy can be changed as readily as the other.
RECOMMENDATION
Manager’s Preliminary Recommendation: We offer the following attached resolution and ordinances for the Council’s consideration.
We recommend that the Council refer this staff report and any comments received at tonight’s Public Forum on the proposal to the Council Committee on Sustainability, Energy and Environment and to the Manager and Attorney for consideration of next steps.
ATTACHMENTS