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 Green Building Policy
On March 6, 2007 the San José City Council took action that would once
again demonstrate the City’s environmental leadership. That action
resulted in the adoption of an updated Green Building Policy that states:
The City of San José will require all new municipal buildings over
10,000 square feet to be constructed to achieve LEED™ Silver
level certification at a minimum, with a goal of reaching LEED™ Gold
or Platinum certification.
Adopted
On June 19, 2001 the San José City Council accepted
the staff report on the Green Building Guidelines Recommendations
and adopted the Green Building Policies as developed by the members of
the
community with the input of City Departments. The following
policies and guidelines were developed with the input of the Green Building
Workgroup,
City Departments, the Planning Commission and the Mayor's
Green Building Task force.
Vision
In August of 1994, the San José City Council
adopted San José 2020 as its general plan. Included within the
plan was a Major Strategy entitled the "Sustainable City Major Strategy." The
Sustainable City Major Strategy is a statement of San José's desire
to become an environmentally and economically sustainable city. The Sustainable
City Major Strategy defines a sustainable city as "a city designed,
constructed, and operated to minimize waste, efficiently use its natural
resources and to manage and conserve them for the use of present and future
generations." To achieve this end, the City of San José envisions
a Green Building Policy that fosters long-term social, economic, and environmental
sustainability in building and development while making green building
the standard practice in San José and celebrating sustainability
as a core value to the community. The vision for Green Building in San
José is a place where the people have the knowledge and opportunities
to build and occupy dwellings that have a maximum impact on the well being
of the occupants and a minimal impact on the environment (adopted by the
San José City Council on 4/4/00).
Purpose
The purpose of a Citywide policy on green building is
to demonstrate the City's commitment to environmental, economic, and social
stewardship, to yield cost savings to city taxpayers through reduced operating
costs, to provide healthy work environments for staff and visitors, and
to contribute to the City's goals of protecting, conserving, and enhancing
the region's environmental resources. Additionally, the City hopes to
provide leadership by setting a community standard of sustainable/green
building.
Green Building Policies
Policy #1: The City of San José shall
adopt Green Building Policy goals and incorporate green building principles
and practices into the planning, design, construction, management, renovation,
operations, and demolition of all City facilities that are constructed,
owned, managed or financed by the City.
Policy #2: The City of San José will require
all new municipal buildings over 10,000 square feet to be constructed
to achieve LEED™ Silver level certification at a minimum, with a goal
of reaching LEED™ Gold or Platinum certification.
Policy #3: The City of San José shall
provide leadership and guidance to encourage the application of green
building practices in private sector planning, design, construction, management,
renovation, operations, and demolition of buildings by promoting the voluntary
application of the San José Green Building Policy goals.
Green Building Guidelines for Implementation
City Facilities
- All new construction and major retrofit projects
for all City facilities and buildings over 10,000 gross
square feet of occupied space shall meet LEED™ Silver level certification
at a minimum,
with a goal of reaching LEED™ Gold or Platinum certification
effective with the FY 07-08 Budget Allocations.
- Staff shall review current 2006-2007 Capital
Budgets to determine how Green Building recommendations
could be incorporated into budgeted projects, and return to Council with
a report on the potential
costs and impacts by June 2007. The report shall include
information related to Green Building Guideline compliance within each
Project Award
memorandum.
Exemptions
The City of San José Green Building Policy strategy
of achieving LEED Silver shall not apply to current City
facilities and major renovation projects that were budgeted in the FY01-02
Capital budget. However, these projects shall still implement City of San
José Green Building policy goals and strategies to the maximum extent
practicable. Documentation of ongoing efforts will be provided as part
of the annual report.
Many projects do not meet the policy criteria, including
buildings smaller than 10,000 gross square feet, unoccupied
buildings, parks, roadways, and other infrastructure. City
facility construction projects that are unoccupied or serve
specialized functions (e.g. pump station, garage, storage building, etc.) are not subject to the City's green building guidelines and do not need to go through an exemption
process.
Even though projects may become exempt from the City's
required green building program, project managers and design
teams are encouraged to apply the relevant portions of the LEED checklist and
to develop goals that increase the environmental, social,
and economic benefits of the project.
Private Sector Facilities
- Staff shall work with the community to encourage
achievement of LEED" Certified rating and identify and provide incentives
and educational programs that help achieve those efforts.
- ESD
shall continue to work with the members of the Green
Building Task force and Workgroup and other City
Departments to implement the Green Building Policies
and Guidelines, evaluate the program
and report back to Council on a yearly basis.
Next Steps
ESD staff will continue to work with the Interdepartmental
Steering Committee to prepare a detailed work plan and
begin implementation of the guidelines, pending resource and staffing
allocations. Education and training for the private sector will also continue
based on existing and/or additional resources either from City allocations
or from grants as identified. In addition, staff will continue to work
with the Housing Department and residential stakeholders to encourage
adoption of green building practices and principles for the residential sector, including affordable housing.
The most overlooked element of green building
is operations and maintenance (O&M) practices. O&M practices impact both the building owner's bottom line costs and tenants' health, comfort, and safety. Green building O&M practices enhance both environmental quality and economic performance. Developing clear O&M procedures can help the City operate facilities more effectively and maintain the
integrity of the building systems. The Environmental Services Department
will continue to work with the General Services Department and other appropriate Departments to develop San José Green Building Operations and Maintenance Guidelines for all City operations and maintenance practices undertaken by the City or its contractors.
Green Building Policy Goals And Definitions
The green building policy goals will center on five main categories:
1. Sustainable Sites
- Site Selection: develop only appropriate sites and reduce the environmental impact from the location
of a building on a site.
- Urban Redevelopment: channel
development to urban areas with existing infrastructure,
protecting green fields
and preserving habitat and natural resources.
- Brownfield
Redevelopment: rehabilitate damaged sites where development
is complicated by real or perceived
environmental contamination, reducing pressure on undeveloped land.
- Alternative
Transportation: reduce pollution and land development
impacts from automobile use by taking advantage
of public transportation and making the site convenient for bicycle users.
- Reduced
Site Disturbance: conserve existing natural areas and
restore areas damaged during construction
to provide habitat and promote bio diversity.
- Stormwater Management: limit disruption of natural water flows by minimizing storm water runoff,
increasing
on-site infiltration and reducing contaminants.
- Landscape and Exterior Design
to Reduce Heat Islands: reduce heat islands (thermal
gradient differences between
developed and undeveloped areas) to minimize impact on micro climate and human
and wildlife habitat.
- Low Maintenance Landscaping: minimize
the need for excessive maintenance by using landscaping
designed to be "naturally manicured" - indigenous landscaping and wildflowers chosen to promote low maintenance and to reduce cutting as well as the
long-term needs for water, fertilizers and fossil fuels.
2. Energy and Atmosphere
- Minimum Energy Performance: establish the
minimum level of energy efficiency for the base building
and systems.
- Optimize Energy Performance: achieve increasing
levels of energy performance above the minimum standard
to reduce environmental impacts associated with excessive
energy use.
- Building Commissioning: verify and ensure
that the entire building is designed, constructed,
and calibrated to operate as intended.
- Measurement and Verification: provide for
the ongoing accountability and optimization of building
energy and water consumption performance over time.
- Renewable Energy: Encourage and
recognize increasing levels of self-supply through
renewable technologies to reduce environmental impacts
associated with fossil fuel energy use.
- Green Power: encourage the development and use of grid-source, renewable energy technologies on a net zero pollution
basis.
- Reduce Ozone Depletion: support early compliance with
the Montreal Protocol by eliminating the use of CFC-based
refrigerants and reducing the use of HCFCs and halons.
3. Water Efficiency
- Water Use Reduction: maximize water efficiency
within buildings to reduce the burden on municipal
water supply and wastewater systems.
- Innovative Wastewater Technologies: reduce generation of wastewater and potable water demand, while increasing local aquifer recharge.
- Water Efficient Landscaping: limit or eliminate the use of potable water for landscape irrigation.
4. Materials and Resources
- Storage and Collection of Recyclables: facilitate
the reduction of waste generated by building occupants
that is hauled to and disposed of in landfills.
- Building Reuse: extend the life cycle of existing building stock,
conserve resources, retain cultural resources,
reduce waste, and reduce environmental impacts of new
buildings as they relate to materials manufacture and transport.
- Construction Waste Management: divert construction, demolition, and land clearing
debris from landfill disposal and redirect recyclable
material back to the manufacturing process.
- Resource
Reuse: extend the life cycle of targeted building materials,
reducing environmental impacts related to materials manufacturing and transport.
- Recycled Content: increase demand for
building products that have incorporated recycled content
material, reducing the impacts resulting from extraction of new material.
- Local/Regional Materials: increase demand for building products that are manufactured
locally, reducing the environmental impacts resulting from transportation, and supporting the local economy.
- Rapidly Renewable Materials: reduce the use and depletion of finite raw and long cycle renewable materials by
replacing them with rapidly renewable materials.
- Certified Wood: encourage environmentally
responsible forest management.
5. Indoor Environmental Quality
- Minimum Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Performance: establish minimum IAQ performance to prevent the development of indoor air quality problems in buildings, maintaining the health and well being of the occupants.
- Increase Ventilation Effectiveness: provide for the effective delivery and mixing of fresh air to building occupants to support their health, safety, and comfort.
- Construction IAQ Management: prevent indoor air quality problems resulting from the construction/renovation process, to sustain long term installer and occupant health and comfort.
- Low-Emitting Materials: reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous or potentially irritating to provide installer and occupant health and comfort.
- Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control: avoid exposure of building occupants to potentially hazardous chemicals that adversely impact air quality.
- Controllability of Systems: provide a high level of individual occupant control of thermal, ventilation, and lighting systems to support optimum health, productivity, and comfort conditions.
- Thermal Comfort: provide for a thermally comfortable environment that supports the productive and healthy performance of the building occupants.
- Daylight and Views: provide a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoor environment through the introduction of sunlight and views into the occupied areas of the building.
Definitions
Green building
An integrated framework of design, construction, operations
and demolition practices that encompasses the environmental, economic,
and social impacts of buildings. Green building practices recognize the
interdependence of the natural and built environments and seek to minimize
the use of energy, water, and other natural resources and provide a healthy,
productive indoor environment.
Integrated design
A holistic process that considers the many disparate parts of
a building project, and examines the interaction between design, construction,
operations and demolition to optimize the energy and environmental performance
of the project.
Whole-systems thinking
A process through which the interconnections of systems are actively
considered, and solutions are sought to address multiple problems at the
same time.
LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating
system is a third party certification system designed for rating new
and existing commercial, institutional, and high-rise residential buildings
developed by the US Green Building Council.
LEED Certification
Different levels of green building certification - certified,
silver, gold, and platinum - are awarded based on the total credits earned
in each of several categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy
and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.
Life-cycle
The consecutive, inter-linked stages of a product - beginning
with raw materials acquisition and manufacture, the product's fabrication,
construction, use, and ultimate waste management (recovery, recycle or
disposal).
Life-cycle analysis
An evaluation tool that assesses the net present value
of the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and disassembly
of a facility as well as the health and productivity of its occupants,
the costs of measurable external environmental impacts, and the cost
of measurable and relevant social impacts.
Operations and maintenance
Costs directly related to the operation, maintenance,
repair, and management of a property and the utilities that service it.
These include insurance, property taxes, utilities, maintenance, and
management expenses.
Sustainable development
"Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs" - The World Commission
on Environment and Development, The Brundtland Commission, 1987. Sustainable
development seeks to balance human development, growth, and equity with
ecological stewardship.
Updated 4-10-07 |
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