Minutes - Environmental Advisory - August 13, 2008 CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING SUMMARY
NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Environmental Advisory Boazd
DATE OF MEETING: August 13, 2008
NAME/TELEPHONE OF PERSON PREPARING SUMMARY: Kelle Karp, 303-441-1940
NAMES OF MEMBERS, STAFF AND INVITED GUESTS PRESENT:
Environmental Advisory Board Members Present: Brian Vickers, Bill Roettker, Francoise
Poinsatte ,Leah Kukowski Martinson and Suzanne Jones
Board Members Absent:
Staff Members Present: Kirk Moors, Planning & Development Services and Jonathan Koehn, Office
of Environmental Affairs
Public Present: None
OUTLINE OF AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER. The meeting was called to order at 6:08 p.m. by chair Francoise Poinsatte
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. July's meeting minutes were not approved. Suzanne Jones
requested edits be made to her comments on the Greenways Advisory Commission update.
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. None
4. UPDATE. Jonathan informed the board that council will review the Climate Action Plan (CAP)
work plan at the September 9 study session. The goal of this study session is for council to revisit their
top five priorities and CAP is one of those. Staff drafted a CAP work plan for the remainder of 2008
and 2009, which includes many regulatory and policy items. The CAP work plan will then go back to a
council study session in October, at which time staff will have 2007 & 2008 emissions data and will
discuss any necessary course corrections to the work plan. (Note, the September 9 study session will
focus on policy items related to the CAP work plan and the October study session will focus on
programmatic items related to the CAP work plan.) Jonathan further informed the board that the
Boulder County Clean Energy Options Local Improvement District (commonly known as the Berkeley
Mode]) for energy efficiency financing will be presented to council on September 2. The community
will have a chance to vote on the item in November, and after that time staff will return to council to
discuss the outcome. The city is collaborating with the county on this item.
5. MAIN AGENDA ITEMS. Jonathan reminded the board that Elizabeth Vasatka, Office of
Environmental Affairs (OEA), presented the Green Building work plan at the June Environmental
Advisory Board meeting, and at that time the board discussed developing a resolution for an interim
commercial green building code. Staff then asked the board to table the resolution as they determined
the work plan needed to be reviewed in more depth. Now, staff has returned to the board to get more
input on the green building work plan before they present to the Planning Board on October 2 and then
council on October 21. Staff asked the board to give their input again on an interim commercial code,
the finalizing of residential remodels and additions, and on the 2030 challenge (achieving net zero
building by 2030). Staff is looking to set a major goal such as the 2030 challenge, and then they will
set benchmarks to measure their success along the way. The work plan involves two elements that are
codes and programs. Planning & Development Services (P&DS) oversees the codes and OEA
oversees the programmatic elements that support the codes. Staff is striving to wrap up the code pieces
(commercial and finalizing residential remodels and additions) in October and November, and then
begin working more aggressively on the Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance (RECD). Kirk
Moors with P&DS presented on staffs Green Building code proposals. Kirk began his presentation by
noting that the purpose of the green building code is to coordinate with CAP goals to further reduce
carbon emissions from the commercial sector. Staff is educating the ublic on the link between the
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Frani~aise Pte, Chair Date
amount of greenhouse gases emitted from the commercial sector and its drive toward implementing
these commercial building codes. The board asked for clarification on how the codes wilt lead to net
zero buildings. Kirk responded that if a building is 100% above code or if the HERS index score is
between 0-10 then it is net zero. For example, a building can have a HERS index score of 300, which
is extremely energy inefficient, so the goal is to get our building as close to 0 as possible. Currently,
the most widely used commercial code standards are based on the 1999 and 2004 American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHREA) standards, and many other
municipalities set their codes to be 30% above the ASHREA standard (m our discussion we refer to the
2004 ASHREA standazd). Kirk continued the presentation showing the adoption schedule for
residential and commercial Green Building codes out to 2030. For commercial building, staff is
recommending that council adopt code 30% above the ASHREA standard for 2009 and then go
another 20% in the 2011/2012 time frame. Jonathan added that staff recognizes the importance to
frontload the work plan trajectory so that we do not have to spike it up later. For residential building,
council adopted codes for new building construction back in February but still needs to determine
codes for additions and remodels. The difficulty in establishing codes for additions and remodels is
determining when it should be considered new construction, and not causing scrape-offs. With these
sensitivities in mind, staff is recommending that additions and remodels be required to show energy
efficiency compliance with a Home Energy Rating Score (HERS) for the entire structure or meet the
required percentage above code International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) standard for the entire
structure. The current HERS and percentage over IECC for new construction in the residential sector
is in a three tiered format broken up by square footage (up to 3000 square feet, 3001 to 5000 square
feet, and 5001 squaze feet and up), with increases in square footage requiring increases in energy
efficiency. Staff is also looking at how to deal with existing buildings in the city and getting them
above code for both commercial and residential. Ideas for identifying and triggering energy efficiency
requirements on these existing structures are point of sale, rental license renewal, change of use, and/or
site plan review. The board asked if other communities have point of sale triggers for their existing
building stock. Jonathan indicated that four other communities nationwide have RECOs but they are
not very aggressive. The board asked if staff has a sense of how this will impact homeowners.
Jonathan stated that staff does not know the expected impact on homeowners, but we recently hired
consultants to perform analysis on this topic. The board stressed that the rental housing sector is
especially important, and that staff needs to enforce the renewal of the rental license process and use
that as a potential trigger for energy efficiency upgrades. In addition, staff needs to make sure to
provide incentives to landlords for making the upgrades. Jonathan informed the board that staff is
engaged in conversation with the rental housing association, and that they are beginning to endorse
staff s efforts. The board then asked how and where Multi Family Units (MFU) fit into the picture,
and what staff would propose as a trigger on these buildings. Kirk informed the board that at a
minimum MFUs get safety checks and inspections on furnaces and wiring, and that they are suppose to
get their rental license renewed as well. Jonathan added that many MFUs aze part of the low income
housing model and that it is really difficult for developers to build above code MFUs because they
have to cut the price on a certain number of units for affordable housing. Staff attempts to educate the
tenants on energy efficiency through the MFU Audit program and continue to follow up with
educational materials. Kirk brought the discussion back to determining the commercial code, noting
that the reason staff suggests 30% above ASHREA is because it is similaz to other language in the
building codes and again staff does not want to inadvertently incentivize scrapes and tear downs. With
respect to finalizing codes for remodels and additions, the goal is to look at the combination of the
addition and final house square footage for determining the level of energy efficiency required. We
also have to take into consideration historic buildings where homeowners can make additions and are
only required to achieve the mandated HERS index for the addition's square foo~tyage. Staff is trying to
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Francoise`P'o"m'`'s`a~tte, Chair Da e
create a wide range of options for all of the different building types, and would like the boards'
thoughts on different triggers for different building types. Staff is also requiring energy audits on
remodels and additions as an education component, and starting in 2009/2010 they will be used to
determine if additional energy efficiency improvements need to be made on the home. Kirk noted on
the work plan and its time line that current residential requirements are 30-75% above code and that
every couple of years they will ratchet up by 10% to ultimately meet the 2030 challenge of net zero.
Kirk also highlighted that staff is looking to mandate renewable energy requirements for 2015/2016,
and these mandates will piggy back on the code requirements as they are needed to get beyond the
50% range. The board agrees that a commercial code of 30% above 2004 ASHREA needs to be
adopted as soon as possible, and that a little more work needs to be done to finalize the remodel and
addition piece for the residential sector. This work would include considering a fourth tier to the
square footage requirements (breaking up the "up to 3000 square feet" tier), triggers for additions that
are 100% or more of the original structure, adding a cap for triggering the right kind of building
permit, and address any needed feasibility components.
Jonathan updated the board on the current status of Valmont Butte, and asked for their opinion on
alternative uses of the site. Jonathan showed the board a map of the site highlighting the different
types of land use on the property, which includes the solar analysis done by Bella for this site. If the
city chooses to install a solar system it would generate 6 Mega watts. Staff is currently in discussions
with Xcel as they own 150 acres of land right next to Valmont Butte and are also looking to put in a
large scale solar system that will feed into the Valmont Power Plant. Trust for Public Lands is looking
to buy the property from the city to preserve it in its current state. If council decides to sell the
property, then they would have to decide which portions to sell and which to keep. Based on that
decision, they may still be able to install a solar system on the remaining property. The board thinks it
is a good idea to push forward with the solar system, but agreed that they would be better equipped to
support or oppose ideas after touring the site. Jonathan agreed to set up a tour for the board.
6. MATTERS FROM STAFF. None
7. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD. The board asked about the status of the curbside composting
program, and Jonathan informed them that he would be presenting it at council again on the 19~h.
S. ADJOURNMENT. The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
9. TIME & LOCATION OF NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 1300 Canyon
Blvd, 6 p.m.
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Francoise Poinsatte, Chair Date