Green Building Task Force

Approved 4-17-13 GREEN BUILDING TASK FORCE (GBTF) March 20, 2013 – Meeting #6 Greene County Public Safety Center 330 West Scott Street 1:30 p.m. PRESENT: Task Force Members: Jason Hainline, Ronda Headland, Sam Bradley, Zach Miller, Michael Nesbitt, Jared Rasmussen, Jeff Barber, Melissa Cox, Emily Fox, Brad Kielhofner, Technical Resources: Barbara Lucks, Jason Bekebrede, Vanessa Brandon, Matt O’Reilly, Chris Coulter, Paula Brookshire, EXCUSED: Task Force Members: Lisa Drew-Alton; Neil Brady Technical Resources: ABSENT: Joel Thomas; King Coltrin GUESTS: None STAFF: Fred Marty, Deputy City Manager -- City of Springfield; Carrie Lamb, Sara Garretson, City of Springfield -- Greene County Welcome and Introductions Barbara Lucks, Facilitator, opened the meeting at 1:40 p.m. in the Café of the Greene County Public Safety Center, 330West Scott Street, welcoming task force and community members in attendance. Self introductions were given by all attendees. Following the resignation of Shane Schoeller to pursue employment opportunities in another city, Sam Bradley was introduced as the Home Builders Association representative. Michael Nesbitt provided information on tomorrow’s CSI Trade Show. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the Green Building Task Force Meeting #5, held February 20, 2013, were approved as distributed following a motion by Jared Rasmussen and a second by Jason Hainline. Follow-up to questions from previous meetings Facilitator Barbara Lucks reviewed the original Task Force Charge and list of Specific Tasks and the group discussed the status of these. Jeff Barber presented information on the PACE program, recently implemented by Branson and Galena. The matter of including a recommendation about PACE was discussed and forwarded to the Process/Policy group for consideration. Between this meeting and the April meeting, staff will provide information on the current level of certification of the various City/County staff. A list of the Peer (Benchmark) Cities will also be provided. 1 Task Force members were reminded to bring information about policies, practices, etc. that they feel would be of benefit to discuss to the next meeting. The remaining meeting schedule was discussed, with the possibility of finalizing the discussion phase and arriving at recommendations in draft form by the end of Meeting #7 (April meeting). Discussion in Small Groups The Task Force separated into the pre-determined small groups for discussions for the remainder of the meeting. Meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m. Next Meeting Date Wednesday, April 17 – 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Greene County Archives Building Reference Information 2 Small Group Discussion held at the December 12, 2012, meeting (revised to reflect member changes 3/20/13) Issues for small group discussion that were identified in previous meetings included: Process, Energy, Stormwater, Codes and Residential. These were reviewed by the task force and it was agreed that the issue of “codes” should be included in the discussions of all groups, rather than as one separate group topic. Task Force members, technical resources and staff members formed the following four groups for discussion and research relating to green building, according to their expertise on the subject. (*denotes technical resource/staff). Process/Policy Ronda Headland Lisa Drew-Alton *Matt O’Reilly Emily Fox Jeff Barber *Jonathon Gano Sam Bradley Structure Jason Hainline *Cara Shaefer Brad Kielhofner Joel Thomas *Chris Straw Site/Stormwater Neil Brady Melissa Cox *Carrie Lamb Jared Rasmussen King Coltrin *Kevin Barnes Residential Jason Bekebrede Zach Miller Michael Nesbitt *Chris Coulter *Vanessa Brandon The groups were given three categories to discuss and research per issue – change, instruction, and benchmarks. Attendees re-grouped for further discussion of issues, per group, at approximately 3:20 p.m. Items included in these preliminary discussions included: Structure Energy Code 3  • Update the code • How to go beyond the code • Define “beyond the code” Baseline standards = Minimum Standards • Incentives to encourage going beyond minimum • Impact on developers and enforcement Policy/Process o Establish Guiding Principles o Minimize City/County resources required o Acknowledge Third Party Rating Systems o Incentives/Trade-offs o Process Tools § Check lists, etc. § Path for innovators o Consider local needs for Green Building Community o Encourage recognized innovation o Policy can include low hanging fruit o Identify obstacles o Identify sustainability officer for community o Encourage renewable energy o Position Springfield (with CU) as leader o PACE o Legislative process o Tax incentives § Personal Property Tax abatement § Enhanced energy zones Site/Stormwater o Identifying issues to study § Complete Design Standards – include incentives § Keep track of Stormwater Task Force progress § Hard to show Return on Investment o Will look at other desired requirements, such as habitat preservation, etc. Residential o Funding needed for City/County staff training o NAHB Certified Green Professional training o Incentives might include tax abatements, etc. o Current process working well o Work with lenders, appraisers – offer education/training Overall – from group when they reconvened o Enforcement of existing codes needed before new codes are adopted o Make this (enforcement) a disincentive for bad behavior o Review fines/fees as a method of funding enforcement efforts 4  Reference Information Preliminary Recommendations from discussion at January 16, 2013, meeting • Homeowners Education o Benefits of green building features o How to maximize the benefits of the green building features (how to operate them) • Education for appraisers and lenders regarding the financial value of green features • Affordability and cost/benefit analysis are essential • Education of City/County staff regarding new products/practices • Must maintain competitiveness with other areas • Triple bottom line (social, economic, environmental) • Codes are the minimum standard – LEED and others are not minimum • Acknowledge current efforts • Collect, maintain for reference and distribute information on existing resources, practices, etc. – Environmental Resource Center function, perhaps • Include indoor features (ex.: indoor air – smoking ban) • The Task Force does not intend to recommend the use of any identified third-party standard (ex.: LEED), but rather will focus on the various practices, processes, results • Building Code – City on 3 year cycle; County on 6 year adoption cycle • Consumer choice and budget factor • Value of quality of life • Ongoing sharing of information/efforts and results – ex: Partnership for Sustainability • Identify and remove barriers to green building efforts • Encourage green building efforts • Because the overall Building Code is on an ongoing review cycle, the Task Force recommends supporting an annual review of the progress, particularly of items that may not be up to the most current code requirements, utilizing a work group made up of staff and community experts to identify those areas and recommend strategies to keep these efforts moving forward 5