City Council Meeting: January 8,
2008
Agenda Item: 7-E
To: Mayor
and City Council
From: Craig
Perkins, Director - Environment and Public Works Management
Subject: Resolution
Making Findings of Local Climatic, Geological, and Topographical Conditions as
Required to Adopt Local Amendments to the California Building Standards Code;
and Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance Modifying Santa Monica
Municipal Code (SMMC) Chapters 8.108, 7.60, and Sections 9.04.10.04.100, and
9.04.10.04.110 to Update and Amend Green Building Requirements in the City.
Recommended
Action
Staff
recommends that the City Council introduce for first reading an ordinance
modifying Santa Monica Municipal Code (SMMC) Chapters 8.108, 7.60, and Sections
9.04.10.04.100, and 9.04.10.04.110 to update and amend green building
requirements in the City. The proposed ordinance is included as Attachment
A. Staff also recommends that the
City’s Green Building Grant Program be extended to include buildings
certified under the LEED for New Construction, LEED for Homes, and LEED for
Commercial Interiors ratings systems.
Executive
Summary
On March
20, 2007, Council supported staff recommendations to update and amend the
green building requirements set forth in the Green Building Ordinance, the
Construction and Demolition Waste Ordinance, and the landscaping and irrigation
standards in the Zoning Code, Chapters 8.108, 7.60, and Sections 9.04.10.04.100
and 9.04.10.04.110 respectively of the SMMC.
On January
13, 2004, Council approved the creation of the Green Building Grant
program. At the time, no LEED
rating system existed for single family residences. Council directed staff to return with an
amendment to the program to include single family residences as soon as a LEED
rating system was available. The
LEED for Homes rating system ended its pilot phase in November 2007 and several
projects have already applied or been certified in the City.
Discussion
The attached ordinance amends and modifies the Green Building
Ordinance, Chapter 8.108 of the SMMC.
The State of
The current Green Building Ordinance requires new buildings
to utilize four major construction materials with recycled content. Other green building materials, such as
zero-VOC paint, support the intent of this requirement but may not contain
recycled materials. The proposed
ordinance expands the list of approved green construction materials and
requires the use of five green construction materials. The proposed list of approved green
construction materials is included as Attachment B. The proposed ordinance also requires
single-family and duplex construction, previously exempt, to comply with all
measures of the Green Building Ordinance.
There
exist several requirements in other parts of the Municipal Code that are
primarily concerned with environmental and green building standards. To facilitate management and
administration of green building requirements in the City, the proposed
ordinance relocates some of those requirements from their current places in the
SMMC to Chapter 8.108, the Green Building Ordinance. Affected portions of the Code include
Chapter 7.60, Construction and Demolition Material Waste Management Plan,
Section 9.04.10.04.100, Landscape Maintenance and Protection, and Section
9.04.10.04.110, Water Conservation Standards.
In
addition to its relocation to Chapter 8.108, Chapter 7.60 will be amended to
update its performance security requirements. Currently, demolition projects are
required to submit a performance security to ensure compliance with the
section. The performance security
is set at 3% of project costs, subject to a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of
$30,000. Evidence suggests that a
significant number of projects are forfeiting the performance security rather
than comply with the City’s C&D Waste diversion requirements. The proposed ordinance removes the
maximum performance security, encourages salvage audits, excludes inert
material (soil, rocks, etc.) from diversion calculations, and ties the
performance security to project square footage rather than cost. In addition, staff recommends that the
required diversion rate for C&D waste be increased from 60% to 65%. The Sustainable City Plan sets a target
of 70% diversion of C&D waste to be achieved by 2010. The City has already identified several
waste management facilities with a verified diversion rate of at least 65%, and
so this requirement can be easily met at the present. It is anticipated that the City will
work with waste management facilities to achieve a 70% diversion rate by the
2010 target deadline. These changes
will help the City achieve its resource conservation goals established in the
Sustainable City Plan.
In
addition to relocating them to Chapter 8.108, the proposed ordinance will update the
requirements currently existing in Sections 9.04.10.04.100 and 9.04.10.04.110
to require that irrigation and landscaping plans be approved via plan check and
inspection during the permitting process.
It will also further clarify terms and standards to be used in approval
of water-efficient landscaping and irrigation systems. These changes will help the City reach
its goals for water use reduction established in the Sustainable City Plan.
Per
Council request, staff recommends that the Green Building Grant program be
expanded to include buildings certified under the LEED for Homes ratings
system. On January
13, 2004, Council approved the creation of the program with the request
that single family residences be eligible for the grant program as soon as a
LEED rating system was available.
The LEED for Homes rating system ended a successful pilot phase in
November 2007. The LEED for Homes
rating system applies to single family residences and smaller multifamily
residences. While Council only
requested that the program extend to single family residences, staff recommends
that any building certified under the LEED for Homes system be eligible for the
grant. This would encourage
builders of duplexes or townhomes to pursue greener construction. The existing grant award amounts are as
follows:
·
LEED Certified - $20,000
·
LEED Silver - $25, 000
·
LEED Gold - $30,000
·
LEED Platinum - $35,000
Staff
recommends that the grant award amounts for buildings certified under the LEED
for Homes rating system be structured as follows:
|
LEED
Level |
Single Family Residence |
Multi-family |
|
Certified |
Certified - $3,000 |
$2,000 per unit |
|
Silver |
Silver - $4,000 |
$2,500 per unit |
|
Gold |
Gold - $6,000 |
$3,000 per unit |
|
Platinum |
Platinum - $8,000 |
$3,500 per unit |
This distribution is recommended because certification costs are
anticipated to be lower for multifamily units. Larger multi-family residential projects
may be certified under LEED for New Construction rather than LEED for
Homes. If the multi-family grants
are capped at 10 units, the maximum amount of available grant funding would be
the same under either rating system.
Planning Commission Action
On
November 7, 2007, the Planning Commission heard and discussed the proposed
changes to the Zoning Ordinance, which is under their purview. The Commission unanimously passed a
motion to recommend that Council approve the proposed text amendment as
presented. The Planning Commission
also took the opportunity to comment on the water-efficient landscaping
requirements being proposed for SMMC Chapter 8.108. While this Section was not directly
under their purview, the substance of the proposed language for Section 8.108
was directly related to the sections of the Zoning Ordinance that were being
proposed for relocation to Section 8.108.
The following is a summary of the Planning Commission comments and
staff response to those comments:
1) The
Planning Commission would like the landscaping requirements to apply to any new
landscape or irrigation system installed in the City, not just those installed
as a part of a new construction project.
Staff agrees with this in concept, but believes that enforcement will be
difficult to administer. Staff is
working on ways to enforce such a requirement, but believes that using the
existing building permit mechanism will be most effective at the present.
2) The
Planning Commission would like the landscaping requirements to apply to
substantial remodels as well as new construction. Staff agrees with this assessment and
has included language to make these requirements applicable to substantial
remodels as defined in SMMC 8.84.040.
This is consistent with the current Green Building Ordinance
requirements and also with the current Urban Runoff Mitigation requirements.
3) The
Planning Commission would like the landscaping requirements to apply to single
family residences. Staff agrees and
although only the pertinent sections of the proposed Green Building Ordinance
were presented to the Planning Commission, the full text contains a provision
that would require compliance of single family residences.
4) The
Planning Commission suggested that the requirement for an 18” setback
from hardscape for sprinkler heads in proposed section 8.108.10(d) would not be
feasible to meet without killing plants in that setback area. The Planning Commission questioned why
90-degree or 180-degree sprinkler heads would not be sufficient to prevent
water waste via overspray. Staff
disagrees with this assessment.
While 90- and 180-degree sprinkler heads are designed to prevent
overspray, in practice these devices consistently produce overspray without
fastidious maintenance and constant adjustment. In addition, there are several landscape
and planting designs, as well as subsurface irrigation systems, that can be
used as viable alternatives to meet this requirement.
5) The
Planning Commission would like to ensure that parkways are included in the
landscaping requirements. While the
parkway requirements are not specifically mentioned in the Code, the parkway
requirements are included in the Guidelines referenced in 8.108.100(a).
6) The
Planning Commission suggested that the language in existing SMMC
9.04.10.04.100(j) would force an owner to replace diseased or dead plant
materials with in kind plant materials, regardless of how water intensive those
plant materials might be. The
Planning Commission suggested that an exception be allowed for owners to
replace plant materials with low water use. Staff agrees and has proposed language
to this effect.
7) The
Planning Commission was concerned that proposed section 8.108.100(g) would
limit the potential sites for tree plantings, especially in areas where soil is
underlain by concrete. Staff has
determined that soil permeability is important for tree growth, and that while
potential tree planting sites might in rare circumstances be limited, those
sites without adequate permeable soil would be detrimental to the long term
health of a tree, and perhaps another planting should be considered for those
areas. This permeable soil
requirement is not a proposed modification, but currently exists in the Code.
Building
and Safety Commission Action
On
September 26, 2007, the Building and Safety Commission reviewed and commented
on the proposed ordinance. By a
unanimous vote, a motion to recommend the proposed ordinance as written failed
to pass. Staff returned to the
Building and Safety Commission on October 17, 2007 with modified ordinance
language for further discussion and to address concerns previously raised by
the Building and Safety Commission.
In the modified ordinance language, staff incorporated the Building and
Safety Commission’s recommendation to establish a measurable and
enforceable standard for determining compliance with the requirement of solar
heating for pool water. The
proposed language was approved by the Building and Safety Commission on October
17, 2007 with the following amendments:
• 8.108.020 subsection
(a) – reinstate this section;
• 8.108.020 subsection
(b) – add at the end of this subsection the following, “ one and
two family dwellings and their accessory structures shall be subject to section
8.108.040”;
• 8.108.030 –
revise to have only the original language reinstated and in the eighth line at
the end of the first sentence after the word “publication” insert
the following words, “or a list provided by EPWM Director to be modified
by public process”;
• 8.108.040 subsection
(b) - insert phrase “not powered by renewable resources” after the
word “heaters” and before the word “shall” in the
second sentence; and
• 8.108.060 subsection
(a)(2)3(a) – revise to include a prescriptive solution for water heat
recovery systems provided by staff.
The
Building and Safety Commission noted concerns with several parts of the
proposed ordinance. The Building
and Safety Commission felt that the requirements of the proposed ordinance are
too onerous to require single family residences to comply, with the notable
exception of requiring pools to be heated with solar energy. The Building and Safety Commission also
felt that the proposed expanded green building materials checklist was too
restrictive. The Building and
Safety Commission noted that appliances frequently are not installed at the
time that the Certificate of Occupancy is issued, and so the proposed
requirement for such appliances to be Energy Star rated should either be
removed or should be modified to specify that only appliances installed at the
time of final inspection would be required to achieve an Energy Star
rating. The Building and Safety
Commission also felt that the option of installing a drain water heat recovery
system for compliance with proposed energy requirements was not specific enough
to enable verification during plan check and inspection.
Staff
feels that since the City has had green building requirements in effect for
seven years, and since green building practices and strategies have become far
more common and well known, and since environmental issues of energy use, water
use, and indoor air quality continue to grow ever more pressing, it would not
be onerous nor inappropriate to require single family residences to comply with
the proposed green building requirements.
Staff also notes that the expanded green building materials checklist specifically
incorporates the materials most commonly used to comply with the existing
recycled-content construction materials requirements, and in addition allows
flexibility for compliance using materials not specifically listed on the
checklist, subject to staff review and approval. Staff agrees with the Building and
Safety Commission’s concerns regarding appliances and has modified the
proposed amendment to refer to appliances installed at time of final inspection. Staff understands the Building and Safety
Commission’s concern regarding drain water heat recovery systems, and
while no standard currently exists for such equipment, staff will work to
develop such a standard that is simple, enforceable, and does not deliberately
preclude the potential for new technologies in this emerging field.
Task
Force on the Environment Action
On
December 17, 2007, the Task Force on the Environment passed a motion in support
of the proposed ordinance.
LEED Requirements
and Standard 189
On March 20, 2007,
in addition to supporting the recommendations outlined above, the Council
requested that staff further investigate the establishment of LEED
certification for private sector construction projects greater than 10,000
square feet. Staff proposes that
there are several reasons why such a requirement would be difficult to enact
and enforce and that a better alternative would be to implement code
requirements that meet the intent of LEED credits. The American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), in conjunction with the
US Green Building Council and several other standards-development bodies, are
in the process of developing a set of green building requirements in
code-friendly language known as Standard 189. This standard is intended to eventually
be a prerequisite for LEED certification, and is scheduled to be released by
the summer of 2008 as a model for jurisdictions to adopt.
The LEED program is,
and was always intended to be, a voluntary certification process. Indeed, the
handful of cities across the country that have implemented private sector LEED
requirements have invariably required that projects be “LEED
certifiable” or “built to LEED standards” rather than
requiring actual certification. As
a result, those same cities have essentially put the burden of verification on
their own staff, and they frequently have established dedicated staff to handle
this verification. Staff recommends
that the City should look to adopt the standards set forth in Standard 189
rather than require LEED certification of new construction.
Environmental
Analysis
The Council finds that the adoption of this ordinance is exempt from the
provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines
Section 15061(b)(3) which states that projects are exempt when it can be
determined with certainty that there is no potential for causing a significant
effect on the environment. This
ordinance establishes standards for the design, construction, and demolition of
buildings, landscaping, and irrigation systems that will reduce human exposure to noxious materials, conserve
non-renewable energy and scarce materials,
minimize the ecological impact of energy and materials used, support the
use of renewable energy and materials that are sustainably harvested, and
protect, preserve and restore local air, water, flora and fauna.
Public Outreach
Public outreach concerning updated green building requirements
will be conducted pending Council review and approval of the various proposed
requirements. Public noticing and
contact with the Building and Safety Department will inform builders and
developers of new requirements. The
City has had existing green building requirements for years, and as the new requirements
mostly build on existing requirements, public outreach regarding the transition
should be easily achieved.
Financial Impacts &
Budget Actions
The
above recommendations will not have an impact on the City’s budget. The funds originally allocated to
the Green Building Grant Program on January 13, 2004 remain unchanged; only the grant award amounts will be
modified.
Prepared by:
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Approved: |
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Forwarded to Council: |
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Craig Perkins Director
– Environmental and Public Works
Management |
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P. City Manager |