AGENDA #5b

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Compliance with Energy Ordinance in Selection of a Design Consultant Team for Municipal Operations Facility

 

DATE:             October 21, 2002

 

 

Below we report how we intend to comply with the Town’s Energy Ordinance in the absence of a Citizens Energy Task Force.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On February 24, 1992, the Town Council established a Citizens Energy Task Force.  While one of its charges dealt with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Lights Program, it also included the charge to “make recommendations to the Council about other measures that could be taken to promote energy efficiency in Chapel Hill.”  The Council renewed and revised the charge of the Task Force in 1993 and 1994.  Although the second renewal was explicitly for one year ending on March 17, 1995, the Task Force continued to hold irregular meetings.  The last recorded meeting took place in February 1999, when it met for selection of a representative to the Fire Station #5 architect selection committee.  The dissolution of the Task Force was formally recognized with a letter of thanks to each member from then Mayor Waldorf in December 2001.

 

On May 12, 1997, the Council adopted an ordinance titled “Energy Conservation in Design and Construction of New and Renovated Town Buildings.”  Among other things, the ordinance requires that architects selected to design a Town building must demonstrate experience with energy efficient techniques, and that the selection panel for architects with contracts of more than $30,000 must include a recognized energy professional nominated by the Citizens Energy Task Force.

 

On April 22, 2002, the Council appointed a committee to recommend a charge for an Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The staff has been moving forward with work intended to allow planning for a new municipal operations facility to which the Public Works and Transportation Departments will be able to move by the time the lease at Horace Williams terminates on December 31, 2006.  We are presently involved in the selection of a team of design consultants to prepare a needs assessment, site analysis, conceptual site plan and general cost projections. These services will cost more than the ordinance threshold amount of $30,000. 

 

In the initial mailing to interested design consulting firms, we requested that they demonstrate their experience and capability in energy efficient architecture, and many did.  We plan to include a review of the submittals of the short-listed firms by a recognized energy expert.  Although the Citizens Energy Task Force is no longer in existence, we contacted the former chair to see if she had suggestions.  She was able to send us a list of several energy experts working in North Carolina.  We have solicited the participation of Mr. Arnie Katz, Director, Healthy Buildings Resource Center and Senior Building Science Consultant at Advanced Energy, an individual on this list who also was previously nominated by the Task Force for participation in the architect selection process for the Police Department Renovation.  We have asked Mr. Katz to review the submittals of the short-listed firms and to prepare a list of questions to be submitted to each of those firms.  Mr. Katz’s evaluation of the responses to these questions will become a part of our evaluation process and will be considered in the final selection of the design firm for the municipal operations facility.

 

On a related matter, we recently selected a value engineering firm to review the work of the designers of the municipal operations facility and to prepare engineering specifications for such jobs as the roof replacement at the IFC Shelter.  Although not required by the Energy Ordinance, an important criteria of this selection process was the knowledge of and experience with the latest energy efficiency products and methods and other “Green Building” techniques. 

 

When the new Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee is appointed,  we anticipate recommending that the committee review the Energy Ordinance and recommend revisions to enhance its practical application.

 

CONCLUSION

 

We believe that the procedure described above would meet the requirements of the Energy Ordinance in the absence of the Citizens Energy Task Force.  We will follow this course of action unless given other direction by the Council.