HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.council.worksession.20080915MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Kim Peterson, Global Warming Project Manager
THRU: Phil Overeynder, Public Works Director
THRU: Steve Barwick, City Manager
DATE OF MEMO: September 12, 2008
MEETING DATE: September 15, 2008
RE: Request of Council to adopt the 2030 Challenge as
direction for City of Aspen's Building Codes
REQUEST OF COUNCIL: This memo is to request that Council adopt the 2030
Challenge Goals and principles to reduce fossil fuel energy use in buildings. In this work
session, Council will have already discussed setting goals for reducing air pollution,
stormwater pollution, and trash generation. This proposal addresses another very
important environmental goal: reducing global warming emissions from building use. The
2030 Challenge offers a mechanism by which Aspen can systematically reduce fossil fuel
energy use in all new and renovated buildings. If Council directs staff to proceed, we will
return with a formal resolution adopting the goals, and then will come back with
measures to achieve these goals in the City's building codes.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: In 2007, Council adopted the Canary Action Plan to
reduce Aspen's contribution to global warming. The Action Plan calls for a rapid
curtailment of greenhouse gases of 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
BACKGROUND: In order to reach the stated goals of the Canary Action Plan,
reductions will be required in all sectors of Aspen's economy. Buildings account for
approximately half of our greenhouse gas emissions and they are an area where the City
has jurisdictional control. By enacting stricter building codes on all new and majorly
renovated buildings, we can substantially curtail greenhouse gas emissions from
commercial, residential and municipal structures. The 2030 Challenge, already adopted
by in principle by many organizations, outlines a plan for systematically enacting limits
on the amount of fossil fuel energy new buildings can consume. The end goal is for all
new buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030.
DISCUSSION: "Architecture 2030'' is anon-profit, non-partisan organization founded
by architect Ed Mazria. Its goal is to rapidly transform America's building sector from a
major contributor to the global warming crisis to part of the solution by changing the
ways both buildings and developments are designed, planned and constructed.
By adopting the 2030 Challenge, Council would commit the City of Aspen to enact
building codes that would accomplish the following objectives:
• All new buildings, developments and major renovations would be designed to
meet a fossil fuel, GHG-emitting, energy consumption performance standard of
50% of the regional (or country) average for that building type. Aspen's current
building code (IECC 2006) already achieves a 30% reduction in fossil fuel energy
for commercial buildings. Thus, adopting the 2030 Challenge would require a
20% additional reduction in fossil fuel use beyond what commercial buildings are
already required to do.
• The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new and majorly renovated buildings
will be increased from 50% now (upon enactment of the 2030 Challenge) to:
60% in 2010
70% in 2015
80% in 2020
90% in 2025
100% (Carbon-neutral} in 2030 (using no fossil fuel GHG emitting energy
to operate).
• These targets may be accomplished by implementing innovative sustainable design
strategies, generating on-site renewable power and/or purchasing (20% maximum)
renewable energy and/or carbon offsets.
The 2030 Challenge has been endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors (Resolution
#50), American Institute of Architects (AIA), US Green Building Council (USGBC),
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA/Target Finder), Royal Architecture Institute of Canada (RAIC),
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Union Internationale des Architectes
(UTA), and many others.
While many organizations and building professionals have signed onto the 2030
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Challenge, few local governments have taken such a strong steps on controlling
greenhouse gases from buildings. Santa Barbara has enacted the 2030 Challenge for
residential buildings. Surprise, Arizona and the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority
have also followed suit. The City of Aspen along with Pitkin County has an opportunity
to become a leader in adopting the strictest building standards in the nation in terms of
energy performance. In fact, Aspen Skiing Company is already building many of their
new buildings this way. Buildings can already be built to be independent of fossil fuel
energy. In fact, buildings can be built to be net generators of clean energy. Aspen and
Pitkin County have already shown leadership in adopting the REMP Program in 2000.
The 2030 Challenge provides a way to address core building energy use in addition to all
the other outside energy use in commercial construction (snowmelt, pools, spas etc.,
which will be addressed by the Commercial REMP program.)
Tools already exist through EPA software and the Architecture 2030 group's checklist to
enable us to make the necessary calculations to help building designers and constructors
meet these goals. Post construction monitoring of building performance will require that
commercial projects submit utility bills for annual true ups. Staff recommends that we
follow a more prescriptive approach for single family residential buildings rather than the
post-occupancy approach for multi-family, municipal and commercial buildings. If a
building is not performing the way it was designed, then three options would be available
to remedy performance to meet the 2030 Challenge targets:
1) improve the building's operations (e.g. add insulation, seal leaks, install
controls)
2) add more on -site renewable energy production (e.g. solar PV or solar
hot water)
3) purchase offsets through the Canary Tag program
The PROS and CONS of adopting the 2030 Challenge:
PROS:
• Rapid reduction in amount of greenhouse gases that new and majorly renovated
buildings can emit
• Need to make significant progress in addressing built environment if we are to
meet Canary targets
• Buildings in Aspen will be "state of the art"
• Extra costs in making buildings less reliant on fossil fuels is an INVESTMENT,
not an EXPENSE
• Building owners/ occupants will be protected from rising energy costs
• More money stays in the local economy
• Will have a methodology for tracking energy use in buildings
CONS:
• Targets may be difficult to achieve in historical building renovations
• Added staff time for Building and Canary departments to implement code changes
and monitor performance of buildings
Thins we need to decide on to move forward with 2030 Challenge:
1. How do we establish our baseline?
Staff s desire is to work off a local rather than national or regional baseline. The
Building Department has been working with Climate Mitigation Services to gather
data for commercial and residential energy use. Current estimates are that
commercial buildings in Aspen use 230,000 Btus/ square foot while residential
buildings use 50,000 Btus/ square foot. A Btu/ square foot measurement takes into
account both electricity and natural gas usage.
Upon enactment of the 2030 Challenge, building code changes would be made to
reduce the allowable energy use in new and majorly renovated buildings to
115,000 Btus/ square foot for commercial buildings and 25,000 Btus/ square foot
for residential buildings.
How do we break down categories of commercial buildings?
Not all commercial space has the same energy intensity. An office building uses
less Btus/ square foot than would a hotel or restaurant.
3. How will we enforce building performance?
At building permit, building owners will have to be bound to provide the City will
utility bills for an established monitoring period. How long should this monitoring
period be - 5 years? 20 years? Software tools exist to allow us to easily track this
data and store it in a database.
4. Should we exempt historic properties from these requirements?
While the 2030 Challenge requires ALL new and majorly renovated buildings to
meet the fossil fuel reduction requirements, architects has expressed the difficulty
in making renovations of historic properties dramatically reduce energy usage
because of the limitations of what can be done to those properties. Perhaps we
need a new dialogue on what can be done under historic preservation guidelines in
order to increase energy performance.
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General industry accepted cost information is as follows. If the design and development
team works at the very beginning with the goal in mind of meeting this challenge, the US
Green Building Council and American Institute of Architects indicate that the additional
cost is between three and five percent, and that the payback on most of the energy
upgrade items has a return on investment of about 6-10%. In other words, it pays back in
7-10 years.
However, if a building is designed, and then efficiency measures are ``add-ons" or after-
thoughts, the savings would likely be reduced. However, in Aspen, the way people design
and build structures has already been changed in recent years. Contractors do not design
and build without anticipating passing the energy codes and efficient building program. In
other words, they already incorporate these elements from the beginning.
EXAMPLES OF LOCAL PROJECTS THAT ACHIEVE OR APPROACH 2030
CHALLENGE GOALS:
Snowmass Golf Club -uses approximately 50% less fossil fuel energy than
required by code when built in 2003. Uses ground source heat pumps in pond,
well insulated roof; 4.5 KW solar PV system.
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Snowmass Golf Club
• Burlingame Phase I -building performance monitoring shows almost 50%
reduction in fossil fuel energy over code. Uses high performance building design,
solar PV and solar hot water.
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Doerr-Hosier Center -designed to achieve a 30% reduction in fossil fuel energy
use compared to computer baseline. No monitoring of performance yet.
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Burlingame
Doerr-Hosier Center
• Sanctuary Condos - SkiCo property that approaches or meets 2030 Challenge
goals with super insulated walls and roof and ground source heat pump in pond.
• Holiday House -this is SkiCo's housing unit that burned down and is now being
rebuilt. It will likely meet 2030 Challenge targets.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: Slowing greenhouse gas emissions is the entire crux
of the Canary Initiative. Aspen's Chief Building Official has been re-examining and
tightening Aspen's building codes for the past several years to better buildings' energy
performance. Now we are asking for direction from Council to go further and achieve
better energy performance from all new and renovated buildings.
Upon completion of our 2007 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, staff will be able to estimate
how much greenhouse gases this type of policy action should counteract.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff recommends the following, based on the relatively
low initial cost, quick payback period, significant affect on community greenhouse gas
emissions, and consistency with Council's environmental stewardship goals:
That Council approves the City's adoption of the 2030 Challenge and direct
staff to implement its goals and measures for all new and majorly renovated
buildings.
2. That Council ask the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners to enact the
same.
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Sanctuary Condos
ALTERNATIVES:
Council could choose not to adopt the 2030 Challenge and to keep in place all the
building codes that currently exist. Council could strengthen building codes without
adopting the 2030 Challenge, or could adopt some goals and not others. Council could
also adopt the 2030 Challenge, but re-evaluate the interim schedule prior to 2010, and
delay the "ramping up" of the goal if it appears that it may be too difficult or costly to
meet.
Council may also choose to adopt the 2030 Challenge but to accelerate the timeframes for
the carbon reduction targets. For example, Council could require all new buildings to be
carbon neutral by 2015 or 2012 rather than 2030.
Council may also choose to exempt historic properties from the 2030 Challenge.
PROPOSED MOTION: I move to approve adopting the 2030 Challenge and direct
staff to bring forth a resolution at a regular City Council meeting enacting the same.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS:
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