From Christ Veleta, programs administrator for Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board:
"On November 15th at 5:00 P.M. the EPB will host a public meeting to discuss
the proposed ordinance. The meeting will be held in Conference Room 3C,
City Hall - St. James. Please feel free to pass the proposed ordinance
along to your colleagues or any group that you feel may be interested."
Here's the proposed wording (in draft form):
Introduced by Council President at the request of the Mayor:
ORDINANCE 2007-
AN ORDINANCECREATING A NEW CHAPTER ___, ORDINANCE CODE, ESTABLISHING A GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF JACKSONVILLE; SETTING FORTH INTENT, APPLICABILITY, DEFINITIONS, STANDARDS, AND INCENTIVES FOR PROGRAM; CREATING A TEMPORARY GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION REFUND GRANT PROGRAM; APPROPRIATING $100,000 FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TRUST FUND FOR THE GRANT PROGRAM; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, sustainable development helps balance the expansion of the City and preservation of our quality of life; and
WHEREAS, Jacksonville has demonstrated its commitment and leadership through the Green Homes Initiative; and
WHEREAS, architects, developers, builders and owners are voluntarily making the commitment to design and construct green buildings and homes in Duval County; and
WHEREAS, Jacksonville commits to high performance building practices that protect the quality of our air, water and other natural resources; provide employees, the public and the owners with safe and healthy indoor and outdoor environments, reducing developments impact on our God-given environment: and
WHEREAS, the Florida Green Building Coalition has developed voluntary programs for the development and operation of sustainable commercial, residential buildings and planned use developments; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Green Buildings Council has developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating systems for new and renovated commercial buildings, and new residential buildings and developments; and
WHEREAS, standards adopted for the Green Building Program will advance the Jacksonville Green Homes Program, the Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Program, the Water Management District Florida Water Star Program, and other programs advancing the goals of the Jacksonville Green Building Program; now therefore
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Jacksonville:
Section 1. Creation of New Chapter ____, GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM. There is hereby created a new Chapter ____, Ordinance Code, entitled GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM, to read as follows:
CHAPTER ____. GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM
Section ___.101. Intent.
It is the intent of the Council in creating this Green Building program to demonstrate a substantial commitment on the part of the City to finance, plan, design, construct, manage, renovate, commission, maintain and deconstruct County Buildings with sustainable building standards and to support development of privately owned buildings in Jacksonville to sustainable standards. The purpose of this program is to provide the City with a certification-based "green building" program to promote sustainable and environmentally friendly practices of design, construction, commissioning, maintenance and retirement for buildings.
Section ___.102. Applicability.
(a) All new civic or office construction projects owned by the City, including its independent agencies or authorities, will follow the requirements of this Chapter, unless the Council makes a determination that the costs of compliance with this Chapter significantly outweigh the benefits to the City of compliance. All new City-owned civic or office construction projects shall, at a minimum, obtain LEED certification for any buildings in the project.
(b) For all other construction projects, including all private construction projects and existing City-owned buildings, compliance with this Chapter is voluntary.
Section ___.103. Definitions.
For purposes of this Chapter, the following terms, words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
FGBC means the Florida Green Building Coalition.
FSEC means Florida Solar Energy Center, a unit of the University of Central Florida.
GHDS means the Green Home Designation Standard of the Florida Green Building Coalition.
Green building means generally the resource efficient design, construction, and operation of buildings by employing environmentally sensible construction practices, systems, and materials. Green building also means an office, residential or civic structure which has obtained LEED certification.
LEED means the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council. Program certification means the final designation awarded to a program participant for satisfying all requirements associated with the program for a particular project.
Third party rater means an independent third party certified by the USGBC as a green building rater qualified to verify that the building project has satisfied all of the requirements associated with the standards applicable to a particular project.
USGBC means the U.S. Green Building Council.
Sec. _____.104. Administration.
(a) The Public Works Department Engineering and Construction Management Division is responsible to ensure compliance with applicable requirements of this Chapter in the construction of new City-owned civic and office buildings. The Engineering and Construction Management Division is also responsible for reviewing, assessing and making recommendations concerning existing City owned buildings being considered for participation in the Green Building Program and, in the event such buildings are so included, for ensuring compliance with the requirements of this Chapter.
(b) The Environmental Protection Board shall review and approve requests for Green Building Certification Refund Grants pursuant to section ___.107. The Environmental Protection Board shall also hear appeals from persons or entities denied access to future fast track development review pursuant to section ___.106(a).
(d) The Environmental Protection Board, in cooperation with FSEC and others, coordinate at least one training workshop per year for the purpose of educating current and potential participants in the Jacksonville Green Building Program on the program and its benefits and requirements.
(e) The Planning and Development Department shall provide fast track development review pursuant to section ___.106(a).
(F) The Green Building Program shall be administered on either a per-unit or per-development basis, as specified at the time of permitting. "Per-unit" means each unit built, except that any multi-family dwelling or similarly clustered structure may count as one unit. “Per-development” means each Planned Use Development, subdivision, or business park.
Sec. _____.105. Standards.
Published LEED standards of the USGBC shall be used to measure compliance of buildings participating in the Green Building Program.
Sec. _____.106. Incentives.
The incentives contained in this section are intended to encourage the construction of green buildings. For any program participant seeking program certification for new residential or commercial construction, residential or commercial retrofitting/remodeling or new City-owned civic or office construction, the following incentives shall be made available:
(a) Fast track development review:
(1) Construction permit applications submitted or resubmitted for review for Green Building projects shall be given priority over projects which are not Green Building projects by all City departments reviewing such applications.
(2) Applications for administrative deviations pursuant to section 656.109, when submitted to facilitate Green Building program certification, shall be given priority over other applications which are not Green Building projects, to the extent possible consistent with the time requirements of section 656.109.
(3) Applications for plat approval pursuant to Chapter 654 shall be given priority over other applications provided the developer records on the public records of Duval County covenants or other restrictions sufficient to require that all homes in the subdivision will be constructed so as to qualify for LEED certification.
(4) Requests for relief from the requirements of section 656.607(i), when submitted to facilitate Green Building program certification, shall be liberally construed to promote such certification.
(5) Applicants who obtain priority status pursuant to this section shall provide to proof of LEED certification to __________________ within 30 days of obtaining such certification. Applicants who obtain priority status but fail to obtain program certification may be denied future priority status by the Director of the Planning and Development Department. Any person or entity so denied priority status may appeal such determination to the Environmental Protection Board. Eligibility for priority status may also be restored upon proof of LEED certification of a building permitted through regular review after denial of priority status.
(b)
(c) Refund of certification expenses: Subject to, and within the limits of, funds appropriated by the Council for the purposes set forth in this subsection, owners or developers of Green Building projects may receive a refund of the actual costs of Green Building program certification pursuant to section ___.107.
Sec. ___.107. Green Building Certification Refund Grant Program.
(a) Creation and Purpose. There is hereby created a Green Building Certification Refund Grant Program. The purpose of the program is to establish a temporary source of funds to be used to create an incentive to achieve Green Building program certification through refunds of the actual cost of such certification. The program is intended to be a start-up program to encourage initial participation in the Green Building program and shall terminate upon disbursal of any funds appropriated by the Council for this grant program.
(b) Responsibility. The grant program established by this section shall be administered through the Environmental Protection Board, which shall review and approve disbursements from such funds as may be appropriated by the Council for this program.
(c) Application for certification refund grants. Property owners desiring to participate in this grant program shall submit an application to the Environmental Protection Board on a form prescribed by that Board or its staff. Application shall be made following certification of Green Building status and shall be accompanied by proof of certification and evidence of the actual costs associated with obtaining such certification. Certification shall be made by an independent third party rater that the owner has received LEED green building program certification for the buildings that are the subject of the application. Grants pursuant to this program shall be made by the Environmental Protection Board and shall be for reimbursement of actual cost of obtaining certification, which costs may include fees for application and inspection for LEED certification, but shall not include cost of any construction necessary to achieve LEED certification or permitting or other fess associated with such construction. Grants made pursuant to this program shall me limited to the following amounts:
Certification Level Maximum Amount per Building
LEED Certification $500
LEED Silver $1000
LEED Gold $1500
LEED Platinum $2000
Section 2. Appropriation. For the 2007-2008 fiscal year, within the City’s budget, there are hereby appropriated the indicated sum(s) from the account(s) listed in subsection (a) to the account(s) listed in subsection (b):
(B.T. ______ attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and incorporated herein by this reference)
(a) Appropriated from:
See B.T. ______ $100,000.00
(b) Appropriated to:
See B.T. ______ $100,000.00
Section 3. Purpose. The purpose of the appropriation in Section 1 is to provide funding for a Green Building Certification Refund Grant Program established by Sec. ___.107, Ordinance Code, which program is temporary in nature and intended to create incentives to achieve Green Building program certification as provided in Chapter ___, Ordinance Code.
Section 4. Carryover. The funds appropriated in this ordinance shall not lapse but shall carryover to fiscal year 2008-2009.
Section 5. Waiver. Section 111.755 (Environmental Protection Fund), subsection (f), Ordinance Code, is hereby waived so as to allow the use of the Environmental Protection Board Trust Fund for the purposes set forth in Section 3, notwithstanding the existing limitations on use of the funds.
Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective upon signature by the Mayor or upon becoming effective without the Mayor's signature.
Form Approved:
__________________________________________
Office of General Counsel
Legislation Prepared By: Tracey I. Arpen, Jr.
G:\SHARED\LEGIS.CC\ARPEN\Green Buildings Odinance draft 11.7.2007.doc
Please make EVERY possible attempt to be present tonight. We need your support!
1 comment:
On behalf of the Council for Sustainable Florida, its board and partners, I write to congratulate the Environmental Protection Board for its efforts to create an incentive-based approach to encourage development that is mindful of its environmental, energy and economic impacts. Additionally, the Board is to be commended for calling upon the City to follow similar standards for new construction.
Where similar action has taken place, the building and development community has been inspired and encouraged to learn more about green building techniques, pursue these practices and, in return, market their products to consumers. These consumers learn how they can reduce their environmental impact, as well as, operating expenses when compared to traditional buildings. In other words, your efforts and relatively small financial investment has the potential to stimulate the growth and development of your region in a responsible and sustainable manner.
After reviewing your proposal, I encourage you to consider a couple tweaks to the policy considerations. These are intended to strengthen your program, provide a more comprehensive initiative and offer more options to the building community and eventually the consumer base.
City building - while new construction is covered, renovation or redevelopment of existing is not. Please consider adding this element as you can improve the performance of existing buildings going forward. Additionally, where city offices are located in commercial space that is leased, consideration should be given to requiring that future leases consider green commercial building first or that they receive bonus consideration in renewing or relocating decisions.
LEED vs. all others- The proposal, while acknowledging the Florida Green Building Coalition, seems to require LEED as the standard for certifying buildings as environmentally and energy efficient. There are several third-party certification programs worth mentioning and considering such as Green Globes and the soon (Feb 2008) to be launched National Association of Home Builders green residential standard. Instead of requiring one standard, perhaps the wording could require that buildings be constructed to meet the equivalent of a third party standard such as ...and list these standards. This will provide options - not mandates - to builders and consumers. It will also reduce the overall capital outlay cost of these programs as they can avoid some costs while still meeting the standard. As an analogy, I have Energy Star equivalent windows which cost less than Energy Star certified windows but meet the requirements for federal tax purposes while giving me the desired performance and reduced expenses - both up front at time of purchase and during the operation of my residence. An additional point to consider is that some are critical of LEED standards because they do not go far enough (for example having a bike rack in front of a building receives the same number of points as having solar hot water heaters) and that in the near future the standard must increase to requiring that buildings produce more energy than the consume. France has just made this move.
Residential vs. Commercial - as a continued comment from the last bullet, LEED has had a great track record with commercial spaces. Its residential component is relatively new (one month old) and the Florida Green Building Coalition has a great track record for residential construction. I would encourage consideration of widening the third-party standard being used to offer flexibility to builders and consumers.
Training - Sarasota County has a great track record on the incentive to green building. One important element that could be added to your ordinance is training or accreditation for your building inspection and planning staff. Sarasota has 20 LEED accredited professionals (remember that people are accredited and buildings are certified) on their building inspection team. This permits them the ability to understand what they are reviewing and this adds credibility to the program. Plus it provides valuable training to your personnel. I would be sure that some commitment is being made toward a goal of training city staff to handle this new era of construction and growth. An added benefit will be that these staff can share their expertise with non-green builders and help move them toward a more sustainable construction process.
I hope that these observations are helpful. I am very encouraged by the direction being proposed. We believe that the actions you are taking today will serve well your community, your environment and your economy. Please call if I can answer any questions or be of service to you. All the best.
Tim Center, Esq.
Director
Council for Sustainable Florida
Collins Center for Public Policy
www.SustainableFlorida.org
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