HomeMy WebLinkAbout9AGreenBuildingPart19.A
7 2006
CITY OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA AUgUsi
AGENDA BILL
Agenda Title:
Meeting Date: August 7, 2006
Status report of Petaluma's Green Building Program and
presentation of Draft Implementation Plan.(Moore/Boyle)
Meeting Time: ❑ 3:00 PM
® 7:00 PM
Category (check one): ❑ Consent Calendar ❑ Public Hearing ® New Business
❑ Unfinished Business ❑ Presentation
Department:
Director:
Contact Person:
Phone Number:
Community
Mike Moor
Mike Moore / Phil
707-778-4301
Development
Boyle
Cost of Proposal: None
Account Number:
Amount Budgeted: None
Name of Fund: General
Attachments to Agenda Packet Item:
1) Stake Holder Advisory Team — Member List
2) Petaluma Green Building Draft Implementation Plan
Summary Statement:
In January of thus year the City Council directed Community Development Staff to develop a voluntary
Green Building Program. Over the past 6 months staff from the Community Development Department,
Public Works, Water Resources and Conservation and two consultants have developed the Petaluma Green
Building Program. The Petaluma Green Building Program reflects the City's commitment to responsible
development and environmental stewardship, and is seamlessly integrated into the Community
Development Department's operations. In the past six months, green building presentations have been
given to the Planning Commission, the Site Plan and Architectural Review Committee and city staff.
Workshops designed specifically for building professionals have been given at the Community Center and
have been very well attended. In order to get the support of as many community groups as possible, a
Stakeholder Advisory Team, comprised of between 9 and 15 local individuals that represent diverse
perspectives and stakeholder groups has also been created to assist in the development of the Green
Building Program (See Attaclmient 1). Finally, staff has created an Implementation Plan (See Attachment
2). Thus Implementation Plan is intended to guide the development of Petaluma's green building program
by outlining the strategies, actions and timelines that the City of Petaluma will pursue to create a fully'
operational program. It will also serve as an educational tool, providing background information and
resources for anybody interested in learning about green building, why it is important for creating a
healthier and more sustainable community, and how a municipal program can support and encourage green
building in Petaluma. The Petaluma Green Building Program will be officially launched as part of
Petaluma Build It Green Week, October 2 — 7, 2006.
Recommended City Council Action/Suggested Motion:
No action required
Reviewed by Admin. Svcs. Dir:
Reviewed b
Attorney:
Approved by City Manager:
Date:
Da e:
Date:
—� 26
7/31/a�
Today's Date:
Revision # and Date Revised:
File Code:
#
Q\DocumenLs and Sehings\l1Boyle\Desktop\Green
July 26, 2006
Building Aug. 7th CC.doc
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ATTACHMENT 1
Stakeholder Advisory Team — Member List (As of 7/26106)
1 st Meeting: Thursday, July 20, 8:30-10:30 am McNear Building Conference Room
Cliff Kendall — City of Petaluma Chief Building Official
Clark Rosen — Broker Associate, Coldwell Banker
Amy Christopherson Bolton — Christopherson Homes, Inc.
Bill Wolpert—Architect, Green Building Architects
Loretta Catarozoli — First Community Bank
Kathleen Garber — Green Waste Recovery, Inc.
Larry Reed — SPARC Commissioner and Landscape Designer
Robert J. Dreher - Petaluma Ecumenical Projects (PEP)
Bill Hammerman — PetalumaNet
Pete Gang — Co -Chair. Redwood Chapter US Green Building Council
Scott Hess — Sustainable Petaluma
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ATTACHMENT 2
City of
Green Petaluma
Building
In
Implementation Plan
R
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Prepared by
A
BuildlltGreerii
SmartSolutions Ram The Gmund Up
Resource Performance Partners, Inc. &
City of Petaluma Green Team
3
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan
Table of Contents
Final Draft
Table of Contents
2
About This Implementation Plan
4
About Green Building
6
Green Building in Perspective
8
Impacts of Building Green
8
Challenges to Growing the Green Building Marketplace
12
Green Building and Sustainability
14,,
About Petaluma's Green Building Program
1-6,
Strategic Relationship with Build It Green
17
Other Key Relationships
17
Deleted: 14
Deleted: 7b j
Deleted: 17
Deleted: 17
Program Goals & Objectives Deleted: 7a
Petaluma's Green Building Goals 18 Deleted: 18
Outreach & Marketing D I ed• zz
2; . e et
Delete23
Overview of the Outreach and Marketing Plan
23
" " t
Deleted: 20
Community Partnerships and Collaborations
2g
Petaluma Green Building Program Website
X _-.
- lDeleted: 30
Marketing & Outreach Estimated Expenses
3Z -
Deleted: 32
Outreach & Marketing Activities Timeline
3Z -
- Deleted:32
Program Operations
�
Deleted: 33
Green Points Rating System & Checklist
�
-- {Deleted: 3fi
Green Points Amendments
Deleted: 36
The Green Building Rating Process
. -� Deleted: 36
-Deleted: 39
Independent Third Party Raters
34
_.
Program Staffing
�_,
-" Deleted: 40
_
- "l Deleted: 41
Steps to Further Support Green Building
41,_- .
Program Operations Activities & Timeline
4Z
- -" Deleted:42
Evaluating Success
43 _
Deleted` 43
Deleted:
Future Directions for Green Building in Petaluma
4a .
-
The City'sPotential Role in Green Building
51,
- deleted: so
Overview
53. -
"' Deleted: 52
Table of Contents
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan
Final Draft
Appendices
Appendix A Principles of Smart Growth
Appendix B
Average Residential Water and Wastewater Bill
Appendix C
Building Professional Invitation Letter
Appendix D
Outreach & Marketing Suggested Media
Appendix E
Media Sponsorship Levels & Value to Corporate Sponsors
(As of 614/06)
Appendix F
Sponsorship Opportunities
Appendix G
PBIG Website "Resources" Page
Appendix H
Estimated Advertising Budget (As of 6/4/06)
Appendix I
Outreach & Marketing Activities & Timeline (As of 619106)
Appendix J
Sample Green Points Checklist
Appendix K
Current List of Build It Green Certified Raters
Appendix L Estimated Ongoing Program Operations Budget (As of 614106)
Appendix M Program Operations Activities & Timeline (As of 6/14106)
Appendix N Possible Marketing and Performance Measures/
Metrics and Targets (As of 6/9/06)
Table of Contents
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
About This Implementation Plan
On January 23, 2006, the Petaluma City Council approved the creation of a new,
voluntary green building program, authorizing Resource Performance Partners, Inc. to
develop the program with the Community Development Department. The Petaluma
Green Building Program will reflect the City's commitments to responsible
development and environmental stewardship, and will be seamlessly integrated into
the Community Development Department's operations.
This Implementation Plan represents the first phase of Petaluma's green building
program development process, and reflects a collaborative effort between Resource
Performance Partners, a Petaluma -based sustainability consulting firm, and the City of
Petaluma's "Green Team," consisting of City staff and managers from several City
departments (individual contributors listed below). The next phase of the program
development process entails actually implementing the actions outlined herein,
including the public "launch" of the program. Once the program is operational, the
Green Team and Resource Performance Partners will establish operational practices
and processes for the ongoing evaluation and continual improvement of the program
over time.
This Implementation Plan is written with two purposes in mind: First, it is intended as a
guide to the development of Petaluma's green building program, outlining the
strategies, actions and timelines that the City of Petaluma, with Resource Performance
Partners, Inc., will pursue to create a fully operational program. Second, it will serve
as an educational tool, providing background information and resources for anybody
interested in learning about green building, why it is important for creating a healthier
and more sustainable community, and how a municipal program can support and
encourage green building in Petaluma.
This document includes sections about green building concepts, practice and
performance; program goals and objectives; program operations; staffing; budgets;
community outreach, education and marketing; and, potential future directions for
green building in Petaluma. As with all plans, this is expected to be a fluid document.
Some aspects of the plan will likely be modified in response to the unforeseen
opportunities, challenges, ideas and resources that may present themselves over the
course of implementation.
Finally, it should be noted that, given the relatively short timeline for developing and
launching this green building program, a number of actions have already been taken,
concurrent with the drafting of this Implementation Plan. This will be reflected in both
the activities/timelines presented in the Appendices, as well as some of the documents
and templates referred to herein.
The following individuals contributed to the development of this Implementation Plan:
Green Team Members
Michael Moore (Director, Community Development Department)
George White (Assistant Director, Community Development Department)
Phil Boyle (Associate Planner)
Tiffany S. Robbe (Senior Planner)
Clifford Kendall (Chief Building Official)
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Robert Larose (Building Inspector)
Curt Bates (Public Works)
Evan Kishineff (Assistant Planner)
David Iribarne (Water Resources and Conservation)
Grayson James (Resource Performance Partners, Inc.)
Marc Richmond (What's Working)
Additional Contributors
Ned Orrett, P.E. (Resource Performance Partners, Inc.)
Susan Starbird (Starbird Creative)
Karen Pierce Gonzalez (Public Relations - Art, Culture, Community)
Erin Coe (Intern, Sonoma State University)
Brian Gitt (Build It Green, Inc.)
Dell Tredinnick (City of Santa/Santa Rosa Build It Green)
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About Green Buildi
Broadly speaking, green building is the use of design and construction practices that
produce buildings that are generally higher quality, healthier for people and the
environment, less costly to maintain, consume fewer natural resources and generate
less waste than conventional buildings. More specifically, green building practices:
• Increase a building's durability and ease of maintenance;
• Reduce energy and water consumption;
• Improve efficient use and recycling of materials, which means that much less
solid waste is generated during construction;
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants associated with
building materials and energy required for heating and cooling;
• Improve indoor air quality and health for building occupants;
• Better integrate buildings and developments with existing and planned local
and regional infrastructures, such as transportation, schools, parks, natural
features, and so forth; and,
Increase long-term property values.
There are many different ways to design and construct buildings that achieve the
above aims. New research data, understandings, strategies and technologies are
appearing almost daily in the green building field. For these reasons, applying an
integrated design process that involves many of the key players early on in the design
process is the best way to ensure optimal results.
An integrated, or "whole -house" approach often involves the designer/architect,
building owner (and sometimes tenant/occupant), builder/developer, sub -contractors,
and others, depending on the nature of the project. This approach enables the team to
optimize the design, materials and construction practices within and between each
phase of the building process from site orientation to wall framing to roofing materials,
and everything in between. The graphic on the following page (from Build It Green's
tri-fold informational brochure,) illustrates several of the features that can go into a
green building.
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Green Building in Perspective
Green Building, from a municipal perspective, may be considered akin to the urban
land use planning trend called Smart Growth,' New Urbanism, or even Sustainable
Development. Steadily appearing in planning codes everywhere, this trend is
increasingly seen as a way to deliver net social, environmental, and economic
improvements over previous approaches which are credited with delivering urban
sprawl. As already suggested, green building is likewise able to deliver net social,
environmental, and economic improvements relative to conventional practices, and in
addition to those delivered by Smart Growth. (Please see "Principles of Smart Growth,
Appendix A.)
Notwithstanding its benefits, however, Green Building as a practice has generally not .
yet earned the institutional support commensurate with the public value it delivers.
Part of the problem lies in the predominant mindset and behavior of our markets and
p-' ." II
institutions, which generally do not support comprehensive, highly
When incorporated
integrated, lifecycle value propositions. Short-term, "hard costs' are
early on in the design
often the driving concerns behind market behaviors and investment
process, building
practices. The value of green building, however, becomes most readily
green often costs no
apparent when one takes a longer -term, comprehensive perspective.
more than
at building I Until recently, there has been relatively little well -documented data
available to support the claims about the relative cost benefits of Green
Building projects compared to conventional buildings. In addition, the analytic skills
required to conduct rigorous lifecycle analysis are uncommon. However, new tools are
evolving in the area of ecological economics (e.g., lifecycle materials analysis; social
surveys) that are beginning to support more comprehensive analysis. As we will
outline below, evidence is beginning to mount which demonstrates that Green Building
generates clear financial benefits based upon "hard costs' alone.
Impacts of Building Green
Green building is an important response to a number of problems. These problems
include rising energy costs; climate change due to fossil fuel use (for heating and
cooling buildings, and manufacturing materials); limited fresh water supplies; pollution
of waterways resulting from stormwater runoff; increasing chronic health problems;
traffic and overdependence on automobiles, and many others. While not the only
factor in many of these problems, buildings represent one of the most significant and
immediate contributors to these problems. By improving the way buildings are
designed, built, and maintained, we can directly improve our communities and our
economy.
Here are some statistics that help drive home the point:
• As of 2001, the U.S. construction market (including all commercial, residential,
industrial buildings) represented 20% of U.S. economyz and 118" of the U.S.
GDP:'
• Buildings represent roughly 40% of U.S. primary energy use (including fuel
input for production), and 70% of U.S. electricity consumption"
• Buildings use 12.2% of all potable water'
• Buildings use 40% of raw materials globally (3 billion tons annuallyp
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• The EPA estimates that 136 million tons of building -related construction and
demolition (C&D) debris was generated in the U.S. in a single year'. Compare
that to 209.7 million tons of municipal solid waste generated in the same year.'
The average new conventionally -built 2000 square foot, single family dwelling in the
United States...
• Generates between 7 and 12 tons of construction debris'
• Emits
26,028 Ibs of CO2 equivalent (Greenhouse Gases) per year1°
• Consumes, on average, 175,000 gallons of water per year (See
"City of Petaluma — Average Residential Water & Wastewater
Buildings contribute to
climate change, chronic
Bill", Appendix B)"
health problems, and
many other
• Contains indoor air that can be, on average, as much as ten
environmental and
times more polluted than the air outside the home." (The fact
social problems
that most of us spend between 80% to 90% of our time indoors
leads experts to link the soaring asthma rates in both adults and
children to the poor quality of our indoor air.)
• Cost roughly $2,690 per year to operate, based upon current utility rates for
this area ($935 for electricity, $647 for natural gas," and $1,108 for water and
sewer)"
Green Building Saves Money
Changing the way we build buildings will have a profound impact on the health and
welfare of both our local communities and the global community. A number of recent
studies have begun to quantify some of the specific costs and benefits of green
buildings, including direct cost savings, increased productivity, improved health, and
regional economic development:
• A study done by The Heschong Mahone Group for the California Board for
Energy Efficiency Third Party Program found that sales in stores with skylights
were up to 40% higher compared to similar stores without skylights.t5
• In the classroom, the Heschong Mahone Group study found significant
improvements in learning and test scores by students working in classrooms
with more daylighting, including well -placed skylights. Controlling for all other
influences, these studies found that students with the most daylighting in their
classrooms progressed 20% faster on math tests and 26% on reading tests in
one year than those with the least. Similarly, students in classrooms with the
largest window areas were found to progress 15% faster in math and 23%
faster in reading than those with the least. Students that had a well -designed
skylight in their room, one that diffused the daylight throughout the room and
which allowed teachers to control the amount of daylight entering the room,
also improved 19-20% faster than those students without a skylight. The study
also identified another window -related effect, in that students in classrooms
where windows could be opened were found to progress 7-8% faster than
those in rooms with fixed windows. This occurred regardless of whether the
classroom also had air conditioning. These effects were all observed with 99%
statistical certainty.'fi
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• In a study conducted by cost consultants David Langdon Adamson, it was
shown that the cost per square foot for buildings seeking LEED Certification
falls into the existing range of costs for buildings non -certified buildings."
• According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research, tenants
can save about 50 cents per square foot each year through strategies that cut
energy use by 30%. This can represent a savings of $50,000 or more in a
typical five-year lease on 20,000 square feet."
• A recent study of office buildings in California demonstrated that an upfront
investment of 2% in green building design, on average, results in savings of
20% of the total construction costs —more than ten times the initial investment,
over the life time of the building and its components.19
"Integrating 'sustainable' or'green' building practices into the construction of
state buildings is a solid financial investment. In the most comprehensive
analysis of the financial costs and benefits of green building conducted to date,
this report finds that a minimal upfront investment of about two percent of
construction costs typically yields life cycle savings of over ten times the initial
investment. For example, an initial upfront investment of up to $100,000 to
incorporate green building features into a $5 million project would result in a
savings of at least $1 million over the life of the building, assumed
conservatively to be 20 years."20
As the table on the following page shows, the economic value discovered in this study
lay primarily with improved productivity and health of building occupants:
Economic Value of Green Buildings
Category
20-year NPV
Energy Value
55.79
Emissions Value
S1.18
Water Value
$0.51
Waste Value (construction only) - 1 year
$0.03
Commissioning 08M Value
$8.47
Productivity and Health Value (Certified and Silver)
$36.89
Productivity and Health Value (Gold and Platinum)
S55.33
Less Green Cost Premium
i$4.00)
Total 20-year NPV (Certified and Silver)
S48.87
Total 20-year NPV (Gold and Platinum)
S67.31
Sauce: Capital E dnatvsis
Productivity Gains in Green Buildings
Improvement in productivity and health is commonly reported for green buildings.
There is the famous case of the architecturally striking ING Bank building in
Amsterdam, which workers loved (while coincidentally ING overtook its rival), now
mirrored in the United States:
"Gary Jay Saulson, the Senior VP and Director of Corporate Real Estate for
PNC Realty Services, describes the benefits of the LEED Silver PNC
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Firstside Center building in Pittsburgh as follows: "people want to work here,
even to the point of seeking employment just to work in our building.
Absenteeism has decreased, productivity has increased, recruitment is
better and turnover less" Two business units experienced 83% and 57%
reductions in voluntary terminations after moving into the new Firstside
facility."21
• A study by Carnegie Mellon University measuring the relationship between
increased lighting control and productivity showed an average increase of 7.1% in
productivity.
• Average employee relocation within a building averages 25% annually for most
commercial spaces at a cost of about $2,500 each. Flexible design features often
found in integrated green buildings can help cut employee relocation costs by 90%.
• The cost of paying employees is generally far greater than the cost of the building
in which they work. Average annualized costs for personnel amount to $200 per
square foot, compared to $20 for bricks and mortar costs and $2 for energy costs.
Green Building also provides benefits that extend beyond the owner and occupants.
For example, a water audit performed for Cisco Systems' campus in Petaluma22 (a
conventionally designed building with "normal" water use) determined that water usage
could have easily been 85% less had it been designed according to basic green
principles (see table below).
Amazingly, the Cisco Systems, Inc.
financial value that Petaluma Campus
would have accrued to g
the City's water and --
wastewater enterprise 8 o—o_ma_e_o_r —
funds had this building 1------_®in' door
been designed "green" 2 6
was estimated at sRN
-$500,000 (20 year a
Present Value), due a - - - -- - -
primadlytothe 3 2---------------
reduced demand for 1 in
capital infrastructure u
the City would need to Baseline Retrofit High Performance
support this project.
The primary design "High Performance" refers to green building principles, above.
differences would be
selecting climate
appropriate plants for most of the landscaping, employing smart irrigation controllers,
and equipping office buildings from the outset with waterless urinals - things with a
strongly negative lifecycle cost (in other words, things that actually earn more money
than they cost, over their useful lifetimes). Innovative strategies have been recently
developed that preserve such negative cost promise of green measures even when
developers need to "flip" properties (which address the "split incentive' that exists
between building owners and tenants, or homeowners who must move before
measures they pay to install, pay for themselves).
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Health Benefits of Green Building
People in the US spend about 90% of their time indoors 23 EPA studies indicate indoor
levels of pollutants may be two to five times higher — and occasionally more than 100
times higher— than outdoor levels. What does this mean? It means that in some
cases, we are better off being outside on a smoggy day, than inside a
Green buildings are an "comfortable, "modern building. An investigation of 20 studies with
effective antidote to "sick ` 30,000 subjects found significant associations between low ventilation
building syndrome" _ levels and higher carbon dioxide concentrations — a common symptom in
facilities with sick building syndrome zn
Green building is no longer a "fringe" or marginal phenomenon. It is scientifically
validated, economically viable, and socially and environmentally responsible. This is a
claim that not many emerging industries can make.
Challenges to Growing the Green Building Marketplace
The public's interest in green building has been growing steadily over the past few
years. At the same time, effective market delivery of green building products, services,
and information still faces challenges in most parts of the country. Some of these
challenges include:
• Lack of professional education/experience with green building techniques and
products;
• Reluctance by building professionals to innovate, especially during uncertain
economic conditions;
• Underdeveloped market infrastructure to deliver green products, services, and
information;
• Lack of consumer awareness of green options;
• Overly complex government approval processes or lack of incentives;
• Government budget constraints restricting development of an educational
program; and
• Lack of coordinated regional efforts to promote a market transformation for
green building.
• Historical lack of well -documented data to support cost -benefit claims about
green buildings compared to conventional projects (as already mentioned, this
is changing).
In developing Petaluma's green building program, we will address these challenges by
drawing upon lessons learned and resources available from other green building
programs, and the people who have helped to create them. Some of the lessons
learned are:
• A comprehensive and focused education and outreach campaign will speed the
process of green building market transformation. Rather than following a
..piecemeal" approach, one must address the building marketplace in its entirety,
including the large web of interrelationships among various stakeholders, personal
and professional motivations, and organizational and market structures.
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• Thoughtful marketing that zeros in on what the different target audiences really
care about is essential. Let's take energy efficiency as an example: Energy -
efficiency advocates continue to use 1970s promotional schemes to encourage
people to build energy -efficiently, with little impact on lasting behavior changes.
Research literature, and experience shows that consumers think energy efficiency
is boring and difficult to touch or feel, despite the obvious financial sense.
A more effective marketing strategy entails an all -encompassing, holistic "green"
package that is much more attractive and valued in the market than energy -
efficiency alone. Green building issues of waste reduction, improved indoor air
quality (which drastically reduces unhealthy air and risk of litigation), natural
daylighting (which increases worker productivity and general sense of comfort),
lower maintenance costs, lower incidence of mold -related building issues,
increased durability, overall improved building quality, and higher market appeal
are all much stronger drivers than energy -efficiency. "Green' is more
encompassing, newer, sexier, more tangible, and connotes a positive message of
'safe' for people and the planet. Whereas people have not shown a strong
willingness to pay extra. for "energy -efficiency" in the past, many people, especially
in this area, do express willingness to pay significantly for the value they associate
with "green."
• Although many consumers say they want to be modern, advanced, ahead of the
curve, most are afraid to do this. A small minority of buyers want to be the first or
feel like they are experimenting on something new like green building. They want
to see it demonstrated and to hear that others are already doing it with great
comfort. Therefore, hands-on activities, case studies, demonstration projects,
home tours, fact sheets, and testimonials are important tools in creating behavior
change.
• Consumers are skeptical of "greenwashing" (making green claims that do not
reflect actual green performance)." This is borne out in surveys, focus groups, and
through professional experience over the last few years. For this reason, public
outreach must be sustained, so consumers see that green building is here to stay.
It must also have a strong educational component, so that consumers know that
green building rests on a solid scientific, economic and practical foundation, and
not just another fad.
This applies to building professionals as well. Whenever new building practices,
1technologies or standards are first introduced, there is the inevitable resistance or
I
"wait and see' attitude by the majority of professionals. This was the
Leading local and case with Santa Rosa's green building program initially. However, once
national production the builders involved in that program began to understand the value of
homebuilders are green building, and that it represents a well-grounded discipline with
"going green" proven strategies and technologies, they have embraced it fully. In
some cases, they have become regional leaders in green building
advocacy and have transformed their competitive market positioning to reflect this
new "green" orientation. Christopherson Homes, based in Santa Rosa, is the
most notable local example of this transformation.
• Green building must be accessible, attractive and convenient or most consumers
will be hesitant to buy. While the Honda Insight has been on the market the
longest and still gets the best gas mileage of the hybrid cars available today,
consumers are beating down the doors to buy the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic
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hybrids, even though their gas mileage is lower than the Insight. Why? One
reason is that most people find them more attractive and comfortable to drive. The
Insight seems too extreme or "marginal" to most car shoppers.
Similarly, many consumers continue to associate green building with a 1960s
alternative lifestyle. To be attractive to consumers on a wide scale, we need to
show that green buildings offers all of the same aesthetic appeal, function and
convenience as conventional buildings —while offering many more advantages as
well.
A municipal green building program that incorporates these lessons learned provides
an organizational framework and a strong, cohesive branding image to help stimulate
the green building market supply and demand. Such a green building program
motivates market supply by creating an educated group of building professionals to
design and build green buildings. Simultaneously, it stimulates market demand by
educating consumers about the benefits of green building.
Finally, as both a local community and regional -based program, a green building
program must reflect the community culture, concerns, attitudes and opinions specific
to its locale, while also taking into account the existing building marketplace, climate,
local resources, and development issues unique and important to the region.
Successful municipal
Fortunately, the Bay Area is ahead of many other regions in the U.S.
programs help prepare
with respect to green building. The Bay Area boasts a large and growing
building professionals to
number of municipal green building programs, including five in Sonoma
County (Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol and Windsor); an
meet growing consumer
expanding array of trained and committed building professionals;
demand for green
suppliers that are increasing the variety and availability of green building
buildings.
products daily; and, a strong and growing consumer interest in
environmentally responsible ways of life. These facts will help to ensure
the success
of the PBIG program.
At some point, what we currently call "green building" will simply be "the way that
buildings are built." Building in any other way will be seen as wasteful, unhealthy, and
a poor investment in our future. Petaluma's green building program represents an
important tool and catalyst in this transition to a more sustainable future.
Green Building and Sustainability
The terms "green building" and "sustainable building' are often used synonymously,
but they are not, in fact the same. Although there are many variations on the theme,
one good working definition of suslainability is available on the website of Sustainable
Sonoma County:
"Sustainability secures people's quality of life within the means of nature in a way that
is fair and equitable to all humanity, other species and to future generations.
Sustainability recognizes the inter -relatedness of the economy, society, and
environment. It requires that we not consume resources faster than they can be
renewed nor produce wastes faster than they can be absorbed."25
Environment, society and economy —these are the three dimensions that must be
managed together, in an integrated way, to achieve a sustainable outcome. As we've
seen, clearly green building plays an important role in this equation. However, "green"
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does not automatically connote sustainable. As Jason McLennan, one of the pioneers
in the green architecture movement puts it,
"Almost no buildings being built today are, in the truest sense, sustainable. This is not
so much the failing of the movement, but the reality of changing the incredibly complex
system that is the building industry. The sustainable design movement today has
produce a lot of better, less damaging, more efficient buildings, but the buildings
themselves cannot be called sustainable... the word sustainable should be reserved for
buildings that truly have no negative operational impacts on the environment...""
Even a building built to today's highest green industry standard, will not be fully
sustainable. But this fact doesn't negate the many benefits that green building does
bring. Green building is both a significant improvement over conventional practice,
and a critical starting point for continued refinement. It clearly sets us on a pathway
forward that will evolve to encompass ever more resource efficient,
The science and practice socially supportive, and cost-effective approaches to planning and
of green building is development that will make our communities and our planet healthier
evolving to bring us more and more livable for ourselves and future generations. And as green
sustainable and healthy building theory and practice evolves, our buildings and communities
communities will no doubt move closer and closer to being truly sustainable.
In the final section of this Implementation Plan (Future Directions), we challenge the
reader (and the City of Petaluma) to envision future directions for its green building
program, and for City policies and practices that can further advance the community's
long-term sustainability.
About Green Building
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About Petaluma's Green Building Program
As we're already seen, green building programs represent a tangible way for a
municipality to accelerate the understanding and implementation of green building
practices within its region. Successful voluntary programs generally emphasize
marketing and education to a broad range of stakeholder groups in the community.
Such ro rams also provide access to green resources and offer a user-friendly
Certification documents framework that enables builders to achieve objective, third -party
and recognizes i verification that their buildings are "green:' This objective verification is
a way of documenting and publicly recognizing the enhanced quality of
building and the the building and the builders contribution to the environment and the
builder's contribution to ! community. This also helps to differentiate the building (and the
the environment and the builder) within the construction and real estate markets, thereby
community. stimulating healthy marketplace competition.
Petaluma's Green Building Program will provide benefits to wide range of
constituencies, including:
City of Petaluma - by keeping more money in the local community, (via utility and
operating cost savings to occupants, and the promotion of local businesses that
offer green building products & services), reducing environmental pollution,
conserving important natural resources, improving public health and safety via
better indoor air quality, improving the quality of the local housing stock, enhancing
relationships with the building industry, and supporting a better quality of life to
Petaluma citizens. Importantly, a green building program also supports the City's
recent commitment to Greenhouse Gas emission reductions.
Building Owners and Occupants - by getting buildings that are less expensive to
maintain and operate, more comfortable and healthier to live in, and have
increased future resale value, while providing the satisfaction of knowing that the
building has been built in a more environmentally responsible way.
Local Building Professionals — through use of green building practices to deliver a
higher quality product, increase customer satisfaction, and create differentiation in
the marketplace.
Local Utilities - by reducing incremental load growth, the effective capacity of existing
energy, water, wastewater, and even transportation infrastructure will be
expanded. They also benefit by reduced uncollectibles (due to the lower utility
bills), improved compliance with regulations for public benefits programs and
recognition as environmental stewards.
Environmental and other Community Organizations - by improving stewardship of
natural resources and improving the health and well-being of building occupants
and the community at -large.
To fully realize all of these important benefits, we will be drawing upon all of the
resources available, and the considerable expertise that abounds in this area and
beyond. Forming collaborative relationships with key stakeholder groups will be an
important part of our strategy.
About Petaluma's Green Building Program Page 16 of 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Strategic Relationship with Build It Green
To take advantage of its strong statewide identity, widely accepted certification
standards, and its many other resources, Petaluma will partner with "Build It Green"
(BIG), a professional nonprofit membership organization, based in the East Bay and
providing resources and conducting marketplace transformation efforts to all areas of
California.
BIG's mission is to transform the building industry so that buildings are remodeled and
built using green practices and products. BIG partners with public agencies, building
industry professionals, manufacturers, suppliers, and non -profits, offering education
and training, unbiased product information, technical assistance, and networking
opportunities.
Petaluma is a current member of the Public Agency Council (PAC), a group sponsored
by BIG that represents a collaborative of over 75 participating public agencies that
meet quarterly to create consistent green building standards, share
BIG's Green Building information, and support each others programs and initiatives.
Guidelines have been
adopted by municipalities In recognition of its partnership with BIG, and to lend a strong identity
throughout the Bay Area and immediate credibility to its green building program, the Petaluma
and Sonoma County. Green Building Program will adopt the name "Petaluma Build It
Green (PBIG,," This name also shows Petaluma's alignment with
Santa Rosa's green building program ("Santa Rosa Build It Green,21), the cities of
Cotati, Sebastopol, and Rohnert Park, the Town of Windsor, and the Sonoma County
Waste Management Authodty,28 all of which utilize BIG's certification standards,
making it easier for regional architects, builders and developers to develop projects
consistently throughout the County.
Other Key Relationships
We are fortunate to have several important local organizations that are already
working in the area of green building or related fields. These include the Redwood
Chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Sonoma State
University Professional Green Building Certificate Program, Sustainable Petaluma, the
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, and many others.
The Redwood Chapter of the USGBC provides valuable expertise, support and other
resources in support of green building in this area. We have already had initial
conversations with the leadership of this group, and we anticipate developing a strong
collaborative partnership with the Chapter, both during the launch of our program, and
beyond.
Developing relationships with the above, and other groups, will play an important role
in implementing the PBIG program.
About Petaluma's Green Building Program Page 17 of 52
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Program Goals & Objectives
In order to provide context for establishing goals for the PBIG program, let's first look
at Petaluma's recent and projected building trends.
Over the past decades, continually rising land costs and the City's voter adopted urban
growth limit has resulted in smaller single-family residential lots, while the average
home size has also grown. As a result, yard areas in newer developments are smaller
than in the past. Two story homes are now the norm, and three story homes are
starting to make an appearance in areas not immediately abutting existing
neighborhoods.
Traditionally, residential ownership units have been comprised almost entirely of
detached single-family homes. Increasingly, however, shared -wall homes, duplexes,
duets, and townhouses are being proposed in new development projects. Within the
last year alone, at least three projects each comprising more than 30 residential
condominium units have been approved in the Central Petaluma Specific Plan (CPSP)
area (adjacent to the existing historic downtown). Requirements of the CPSP are
expected to result in a fine-grain, pedestrian -scale urban development pattern with a
mixed -use nature in this area. Development of apartment buildings seems consistent
with past patterns. Commercial development, particularly in terms of retail space, is
currently stronger than in the past. Petaluma's overall trend towards higher urban
density and mixed use provides ample opportunity for practice of Smart Growth or
New Urbanism principles.
Generally, flooding is a strong concern for Petaluma, with many millions of dollars and
many years of work going towards flood control projects. In response to the flooding
this past winter, the City Council recently passed a short-term moratorium on
development in floodplain areas, pending additional data. Flooding will no doubt
continue to be an important —and perhaps contentious, issue with respect to new
development in the City.
Petaluma, like its neighboring cities who receive their water from the Sonoma County
Water Agency, is facing uncertainties conceming the availability of future water supply.
The City's Water Resources and Conservation Department has recently
Water efficiency and begun a year -long study to determine the most effective way to deal with
stormwater manage- this uncertainty. One outcome of this study may be to establish
ment practices are requirements that all future development in the City be accomplished
important elements without further increasing City water demand. Both the stormwater and
of green building. f water supply issues are beginning to focus attention on the need for more
.'green" approaches to development, including improved stormwater
management practices (including such features as permeable pavement, on -site water
detention, bioswales, and other measures, along with high efficiency plumbing fixtures
inside the home and low water demand landscapes outside).
As outlined in the "Future Directions" section of this Plan, green building practice offers
much that municipalities and developers can employ to help manage growth
intelligently.
Petaluma's Green Building Goals
Projections provided by the current draft of Petaluma's General Plan, together with the
adopted Central Petaluma Specific Plan, call for roughly 6,500 new residential units,
and approximately 7 million square feet of new commercial buildings" to be built over
Program Goals & Objectives Page 18 of 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
the next 20 years, as Petaluma's population increases by about 22%, from 58,000 to
72,700.30
Let's look at some of the impacts of this proposed development. Using the figures
cited in the previous section, the 6,500 new homes slated for construction over the
next 20 years, if built to current conventional standards, will:
• Generate more than 55,000 tons of construction and demolition debris
. Emit roughly 170 million tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases per year
Consume over 1.1 billion gallons of water
• Cost occupants $$17.5 million in utility costs (NPV, adjusted for inflation, etc.)
This is the picture before even considering the impacts of additional infrastructure
needed to support each new house, in the form of streets, sidewalks, sewer and water
pipes, electricity, cable, telephone, stormwater drainage, schools, libraries,
Building even a traffic congestion (and associated emissions), municipal buildings, staff
portion ofPetaluma's and services, and so forth.
projected new homes This brief analysis is not to suggest that none of these new buildings
green can deliver should be built. Not building any new homes would also have negative
significant community impacts on the community, which is already struggling to provide housing
henefilc P Y. Y 99 � 9 P 9
that is affordable to many of the service workers and professionals who
work here. Rather, it underscores the need and the opportunity to achieve the City's
General Plan goals in a more sustainable way, with higher quality buildings that use
fewer resources and are less expensive to maintain.
Faced with the many benefits that green building affords to homeowners, building
occupants, and the entire community, the Green Team proposes the following goals
for the PBIG:
City of Petaluma Green Building Goals (1)
Building
January 1,
January 1,
January 1,
January 1,
January 1,
Activity
2008
2010
2013
2018
2025
Residential:
5%
10%
20%
40%
75%
New (2)
Residential:
5%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Remodel (3)
Commercial:
5%
10%
20%
30%
40%
New
(
Commercial:
Renovation
5%
10%
15%
20%
30%
(4)New
�—
Mun
Municipal (5)
100%
100%
100%
100%
°
100 /°
NOTES:
1. These goals are for buildings achieving at least the minimum green building standard under
the PBIG program or, for commercial buildings, the USGBC LEED system." (Across the
country, many cities and stales are now requiring that all new civic construction and
Program Goals & Objectives Page 19 or 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
renovation projects meet the LEED Green Building Rating System standards. The State of
California has adopted a LEED Silver standard for all new state buildings.)
2. January 1, 2025 goal for new residential buildings assumes mandatory green building for
subdivision developments (5 or more units).
3. Residential Remodel goals apply to remodels of 250 square feet or greater.
4. Commercial Renovation goals apply to major projects only.
5. One of the most important ways a city can demonstrate its commitment to green building is
to require that all new municipal projects be built to a high green standard. For this
reason, the Green Team has set the goal that 100% of all new Petaluma civic buildings
achieve third -party verification as green buildings,
In addition to these goals, members of the PBIG Green Team identified the following
aspirations for the Program:
• To use the development of the PRIG to help bring all green building related
policies together into one cross-referenced place/document;
• To have a program that is easy for the public to understand and implement,
and which provides a comprehensive view of green building, the program and
the process;
• To be sure that the PBIG is integrated seamlessly into the Community
Development Department's existing system;
• To explore potential incentives (e.g., reduced fees, expedited permitting, etc.)
to support green building;
• To see how the outreach and education dimension and experience of this
program might serve as a model for other city initiatives (e.g., the Development
Code update);
• To leverage this program to support, in specific ways, the promotion of
sustainable development that is referenced frequently, but only in general
terms, in the City's General Plan update; and
• To celebrate the City's successes as we achieve them.
To achieve these goals, the Petaluma Build It Green program must meet the following
objectives:
1. Generate increased demand by building owners and occupants for green
buildings and green building services and products through outreach,
marketing and education;
2. Provide clear green building guidelines that can be understood and
implemented by all;
3. Establish an organizational framework to deliver green building education,
services and resources to City staff, commission and committee members,
building industry professionals, and the community;
4. Support the "supply side' growth to meet the growing demand for green
building services and products through professional outreach, education,
access to resources and networking opportunities; and
5. Explore and possibly recommend new City policies that support green building.
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
The following sections will outline the steps needed to fulfill these five objectives and
position the City of Petaluma to realize its green building goals.
Program Goals & Objectives
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Outreach &
In this section of the Implementation Plan we will outline the approach, activities, and
timeline for an effective outreach and marketing campaign.
As described earlier, the City's partnership and co -branding agreement with Build It
Green will automatically lend a sense of credibility and quality through use of the BIG
name, logo, web site and printed materials. BIG will also provide additional support to
the City's marketing and outreach efforts in the form of technical support and
participation in certain outreach activities.
Supply, Demand, Access and Recognition
The long-term aim of the PBIG is to develop Petaluma's green building marketplace by
strengthening supply capacity, increasing consumer demand and supporting both
suppliers and consumers by providing easy access to information and technical
assistance, and public recognition for buildings that are built green.
We will strengthen supply capacity by educating building -related professionals about
green building practices and resources, and how to provide competitive green building
services. Consumer's demand for green buildings grows as they are shown the
benefits of green buildings and learn about the services and products that go into
green building. A municipal green building program such as PBIG is the most direct
and tangible way for Petaluma to support a local green building marketplace. The
PBIG program puts together in one place all the information and resources needed to
facilitate green building, while offering an objective means for public recognition of
buildings that are designed and built to meet specific, widely recognized green
standards.
To make Petaluma's GBP a success we'll need to get the word out to as many people
in the community as possible through a well -planned outreach and marketing
campaign. This campaign will target the various stakeholder groups, or audiences,
with clear and simple messages, delivered in a focused and cost-effective way.
Four Target Audiences
For purposes of outreach and marketing, stakeholders can be categorized into four
distinct audience groups:
1. Property Owners/Buvers: Current and prospective residential and commercial
property owners/lessees (including do-it-yourselfers);
2. Building Professionals: Architects, builders, suppliers, developers, realtors, and
retailers for do-it-yourselfers;
3. The Community: Community and neighborhood groups, environmental and other
interest -based organizations; and,
4. Agencies: Community Dev. Dept, and commissions, Staff, Water Resources &
Conservation Dept., PG&E, Green Waste, etc.
Outreach & Marketing
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Key Messages
Each audience group is defined by its own specific perspective, interests and
concems. The way to encourage new behaviors (including purchasing habits of
homeowners and remodelers) is to deliver and reinforce the messages that "speak to"
each target audience clearly, simply, and in compelling ways. For example,
consumers with children tend to be interested in healthy indoor air quality and home
safety, whereas consumers on a tight budget want to learn about utility and
maintenance savings. Developers need to know that building green doesn't have to
cost more and can, in fact, represent both cost savings and increased property values
over the long haul.
Based upon lessons learned from other green building programs around the Bay Area
and beyond, we have identified the following key messages about green building for
the identified target audiences:
1. Property Owners/Buyers
• Higher quality homes have more value
• Lower utility bills
• More comfortable
• Better indoor air quality
• Reduced maintenance saves time, money, and hassle
• Better resale value
2. Building Professionals
• Demand for green building is growing rapidly
• Green building is an opportunity for market differentiation
• Green building is where the building industry is going
• The PBIG can provide inexpensive publicity
3. The Community
• Green Building improves quality of life for everyone
• Healthier buildings
• Environmentally responsible
• Promotion of the local economy
4. Public Agencies & Utilities
• Expand infrastructure capacity and longevity
• Improve bill collections via lower utility costs/bills
• Reduce peak load demand via energy and water efficiency improvements
• Improve environmental stewardship
• Enhance data collection and knowledge regarding green building impacts
Overview of the Outreach and Marketing Plan
How do we reach all of the target audiences with these messages in a cost-effective
way? In order to maximize impact with limited City advertising/outreach dollars, we
plan to focus resources on a media "blitz" that culminates in a week of well -publicized
activities that everyone in Petaluma will hear about, called "Petaluma Build It Green
Outreach & Marketing Page 23 of 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Week," scheduled for early Fall, 2006. This approach will generate greater market
penetration and public awareness than a more drawn -out campaign, giving the City
more mileage for its money.
We will use the Summer 2006 months to prepare for Petaluma Build It Green Week
and to "cultivate the soil" by training City staff, Planning Commission, SPARC, and the
City Council about green building and the PBIG. The dates for these training sessions
are as follows:
• City Staff- Wednesday, June 14th, 9:00-10:00 am'
• SPARC -Thursday, June 22nd, 3:00 — 5:00 pm (30-45 min)
• Planning Commission -Tuesday, June 27th, 7:00 — 9:00 pm (30-45 min)
• City Council Presentation -Monday, August 7th, 7:00 (-20 min)
This training session was well attended by staff from the Community Development
Department as well as several other departments.
Petaluma Build It
As stated earlier, although awareness of and "talk" about green building is
Green Week
widespread in our region, the actual practice and use of green building
(October 2-7, 2006)
principles and practices has been adopted by only a small number of
will be the official
designers, builders, suppliers, and other professionals to date. To address
launch of the
this, we will be reaching out to building professionals in the area, providing
Petaluma Build It
educational workshops about Green Building and the PBIG, and showing
Green program.
them how to employ their new knowledge about green building to promote
--I--
their own businesses.
As part of the build-up to the program launch in early fall, we will offer a series of three
workshops geared towards architects, builders, developers, subcontractors, suppliers,
realtors, lenders and other professionals. These two-hour workshops will focus on:
A. Introducing principles, practices and examples of green building;
B. Providing an overview of the Petaluma Build It Green program and how to work
with the program;
C. Informing professionals about the resources and technical assistance available
to help them compete effectively in the newly emerging green building
marketplace;
D. Providing a Professional's Toolkil, with informational and collateral materials to
use in promoting the professional's own green building services; and
E. Inviting professionals to participate in Petaluma Build It Green Week by
sponsoring one or more of the Week's activities; having a promotional
table/booth and/or wall display, serving on the Speaker's Bureau, and/or
sponsoring media advertising and other promotional activities.
These workshops will be promoted primarily via direct mail and press releases to all of
the local media outlets. A letter invitation and informational insert was mailed out to
more than 800 local building professionals on June 6", which included professionals in
the Community Development Department's permit holders database for the past 16
months, plus listings of local architects, real estate brokers, financial lenders and
contractors not on the City's list. (Please see "Building Professional's Invitation,"
Appendix C). We will also work with local professional organizations to place our
Outreach 8 Marketing Page 24 of 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
announcements in their newsletters or web sites. These training sessions (as well as
those presented to City of Petaluma staff and officials, above) will be led by
experienced presenters with knowledge of local green building practices and
resources. They will be held at the Luchessi Community Center on the following dates:
• June 27th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
• July 12th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
• August 10th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Attendees will also receive a Green Building Professional's Toolkit designed to help
participants to market their own green building services effectively within the new
green building marketplace. After the workshops are over, the Toolkit may be
available upon request at the Community Development Department's counter. The
Toolkit will include:
• Copy of Green Building Guidelines — Home Remodel
• Sample Green Points Checklist
• PBIG Certification Process Overview
• "Build It Green' Tri-fold Brochures
• Build It Green "Ask An Expert" business cards Resource lists and website links
• PBIG Sponsorship Package Summary
• PBIG Window decal
• Two -page "Marketing Tips for Professionals"
• Listing of additional green building resources and website links
During September, 2006, we will begin aggressively promoting Petaluma Build It
Green Week, which will be October 2"d through 7d'. Depending on the value of
corporate sponsorships raised, this will include some or all of the following public
relations and media activities:
• TV - Public Service Announcements (PSA), and/or Commercial Ads (e.g.,
spots on Ch 50 - "Get Down to Earth" series, or other venues)
• Print advertising — local print media
• Flyer insertion in the Angus Courier
• Radio Public Service Announcements
• Petaluma Transit Bus signs
• Water bill stuffers (to roughly 20,000 Petaluma water bill recipients)
• General PBIG brochure
• Point of Sale (POS) displays for vendors, library, permit counter, and other
possible locations
Petaluma Build It Green Week — October 2"d — 7'h
Petaluma Build It Green Week will consist of a series of activities throughout the week,
including:
Outreach & Marketing
Page 25 of 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
• Mon. October 2"tl — City Council Proclamation
• Tuesday October 3rtl - Free Public Presentation: "Your Healthy House" (Public
Library)
• Wednesday October 4" — Chamber of Commerce "After Hours" mixer/
presentation (Water Resources & Conservation Dept's new field office)
• Thursday October 5'" — Public Presentation: "10 Steps to Green Remodeling"
(new Kenilworth Jr. High School)
• Friday October 6'" - Green Building Movie Night (films and location tbd)
• Saturday October 7'"—PBIG Launch Gala: 9:00— 1:00 Luchessi Community
Center
Launch Day Gala — Saturday. October 71b 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
All publicity and advertising materials will promote not only the Petaluma Build It
Green Week, but also this official launch day, to be held at the Community Center.
PBIG Launch Day will include a variety of activities, such as:
• Vendor products and professional services expo and networking;
• Staffed Petaluma Build It Green booth, with program and green building
materials, resources and technical information;
• Green Building Presentation (GB101 and the PBIG program);
• Concurrent presentations/demonstrations (e.g., Healthy Homes; How Green is
This Home?; Natural Remodeling; Going Green to Lower Your Water Bill);
• Official Ceremony with Mayor's Inaugural Address;
• Children's Activities, including kid's carpentry sessions, and sustainable
building mural; and
A focused public
To ensure ccess, a professional events coordinator will oversee and
relations and advertising
manage all auon the gala launch day. In order to generate
campaign maximize the
increased participation and buy -in on the part of local businesses and
community's awareness
organizations, as well as to offset media and production costs, we will
of the PBIG program
offer media and corporate sponsorship opportunities to local businesses
------I----*--------
and community organizations (see below).
Media Relations & Public Relations
Key elements of a well -planned and executed media campaign, designed to reach all
target audiences with the right messages, may include the following. Actual media
activities will be determined based upon budget considerations.
1) Timely, effective press releases and public service announcements to appropriate
news persons in both general media (newsletters, print, radio, websites, and TV)
and targeted trade publications (construction, etc.);
2) Video footage and audio CD's for broadcast options;
3) Media sponsorships that will maximize advertising dollars and leverage potential
business/corporate sponsors; and,
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
4) Media training for selected PBIG City staff and other community spokespersons
("Champions," see below) to prepare potential interviewees to maximize media
opportunities.
Press materials will focus upon the most newsworthy components of each outreach
activity event and the overall program as described above. Additional newsworthy
focuses to be considered are individual event presenters and identified "Champions,"
including business participants and community supporters of green building and the
PRIG. A listing of media outlets to be contacted is provided as Appendix D. Materials
may include:
Print Materials
• PBIG Week Program
• Event signage
• Build It Green Brochures
• Point of sale displays for retail and
city office use
• PBIG Letterhead
• GBW Flyer with sponsor logos
• Transit Bus Ads
Display booth banner (provided by
Build It Green)
Builders' Toolkit
Green Points Certificate
• Video title slide for PCA • Green Points Plaque (for the first 5
buildings certified in each building
category)
• "Ask An Expert" Business Cards • Window cling/decal
Broadcast and Outdoor Advertising
• Creation of b-roll, digital TV footage (based upon high quality digital footage and
photographs) for Sonoma County television and cable distribution. This material
can also be repurposed at minimal production expense for use on PBIG website,
and updated in future years as additional material is gathered.
• Outdoor advertising, possibly including street Billboards (depending upon
sponsorship interest) and Petaluma Transit bus cards
Program Partners/Sponsors
Support from media partners, through sponsorships, lends credibility and leverages
advertising dollars. The sponsoring media outlet often matches purchased ad space
and/or airtime, sometimes as much as doubling the number of broadcast airings or
print insertions. PBIG has already secured media sponsorships to assist in recruiting
corporate sponsors. PBIG's partnership with Build It Green has enabled the City to
receive non-profit advertising rates, which will further leverage corporate sponsor's
investment. Media sponsorship packages are outlined in Appendix E.
Corporate sponsorship packages are determined by level of financial contribution.
Depending on the level of sponsorship investment, the corporate sponsor can receive
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
logo visibility in any or all media advertising (radio/TV/print), outdoor advertising, public
transit signs, and in PBIG materials (event brochures and the like; and special event
recognition/tickets or other premiums. The four levels of PBIG corporate sponsorship
costs and benefits are as shown in the Sponsorship Opportunities flyer, Appendix F.
Community Partnerships and Collaborations
In addition to corporate sponsorships, we will also seek natural community partners
who share an interest in promoting green building and the PBIG. Examples of such
partners include green building advocacy organizations, local health care
organizations, and environmental groups. These partners may participate through
underwriting or participating in certain PBIG outreach activities, as well as promoting
the PBIG in their own outreach efforts. For example, the Redwood Chapter of the
United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has committed to partnering with PBIG
to provide ongoing public green building presentations through 2007.
PBIG Champions and PBIG Advisory Team
We are fortunate in this area to have a number of well -respected green building
experts and advocates. To lend further credibility and impact in our outreach to the
target audiences we will engage with these green building "champions," who can
assist in making presentations, promoting green building practices in their social and
professional networks, and providing the City with valuable feedback. Some of these
champions will be participating in the Stakeholder Advisory Team.
Stakeholder Advisory Team
The Stakeholder Advisory Team (SAT) is a group of local individuals committed to
launching and growing the PBIG Program. The Team represents diverse perspectives
and stakeholders within the Petaluma community, including the building professions
(designers, builders, developers), real estate, financial institutions, environmental and
social issues, City staff, others.
The Advisory Team will serve as both additional eyes and ears for the City with
respect to the growth of green building in Petaluma, and will provide valuable input to
help the program realize its promise to the community. The SAT will be a voluntary
body that:
• Represents diverse perspectives of Petaluma's various stakeholder groups;
• Meets monthly initially during launch and initial months of program operations
and bi-monthly thereafter,
• Provides feedback, insight and advice about opportunities and challenges to
growing the green building marketplace and to refining the PBIG program; and,
• Has members who will serve as ambassadors to the community by speaking
about and promoting green building and PBIG with colleagues, constituencies,
and at events throughout the City.
Prospective SAT members will be approached in June and July, with the first meeting
convened in late July, 2006, We anticipate membership of 9 to 15 members, serving
for at least a one year commitment.
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Beyond Green Building Week
Although primary focus will be on promoting PBIG Week and related activities, the
Program will require continued outreach and promotion after the October launch
activities.
To help continue the momentum, and to enable consumers to learn more about how to
build green, three thematic workshops will be offered during fall, 2006 and into spring,
2007. These 2'/� hour sessions will focus on different topics:
Saturday Nov. 4 2006 9:30 - 12:00 noon Green Remodeling
Luchessi Center
Saturday, [Date tbdl 9:30 - 12:00 noon Green New Home Building
Saturday. [Date tbdj 9:30 - 12:00 noon Green with Style -Paint, Flooring and
Kitchen Cabinetry and Countertops
These workshops will be held at locations to be determined over the summer, and will
be publicized via flyers at PBIG Week events, press releases, e-mail announcements
and other outreach channels.
In addition to the above thematic workshops, ongoing presentations and workshops
may be
offered on a regular schedule (or as demand grows) throughout the year on a
variety of topics, from Green Building 101 to specific themes of interest to local
Ongoing public
consumers. These will be led by qualified local and/or guest speakers and
workshops and
presenters, in coordination with Build It Green and the Redwood Chapter of
presentations will
the USGBC. City staff and other experts will also present at local service
be scheduled
organization and other functions.
thrnunhnut 2007
After 2006, the chief means for promoting the PBIG amongst builders and
remodelers will be through their contact with the Community Development
Department's Planning and Permit counter. For this reason, it will be important to
have informational materials available and counter staff that are knowledgeable about
the program and can promote green building practices to CDD customers.
Over time, as more and more green buildings are completed and certified in Petaluma,
the City can develop local case studies that will be informative and inspirational to the
public and professionals. These case studies can be shared through project tours,
press releases, and on the PBIG website.
In addition, the City may wish to designate an annual Petaluma Build It Green Week or
Day in the future, with some combination of outreach events and public celebration of
green building projects in town.
Petaluma Green Building Program Website
A web site is essential to assist consumers, building professionals, and others in
learning about the PBIG, and finding technical information, products, services and
other resources about green building. The Web site will allow the City to: a)
communicate directly with the community 24 hours a day without going through a
media outlet; b) save staff time and expense by providing information and answers to
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questions directly to citizens; and, c) reduce printing and production costs of new and
updated materials.
The Green Building web pages must be simple to create and update, and easy to
maintain. The following considerations will help guide the design of the PBIG web
pages:
1. The web page is always a work in progress, so make sure it can be quickly
updated with content, new pages, links, etc. As a general rule, start simple and
keep improving.
2. The site must be easy to navigate.
3. When offering links to other sites, make the link open a whole new window, so
that the visitor does not lose the Petaluma site, but is able to have both
windows live.
4. If using frames, limit them to one side of the page, as they are generally not
well liked by visitors, can be cumbersome, and make printing difficult (Can
provide "Print This Page" capabilities, if possible).
5. Sprinkle photos throughout for visual appeal (local buildings, materials,
landscape, workers, families, city staff, etc.).
6. The City will have a unique and easy to remember domain name,
www.fietalLimabuilditgreen.org, to serve as an introductory page, linked directly
to the City's PBIG web pages.
7. Provide links on pages of all related city departments.
The basic site architecture is very simple, consisting of a PBIG Home Page with three
to four subsidiary pages...
BASIC WEB PAGE CONTENT
Home Page:
• Welcome to the Petaluma BIG
• Explanation of what we are about (history, intent, voluntary nature of program,
link to ordinance, etc.)
• Introduction to GB (what is GB and its benefits)
• Who is the Green Team?
• Who is the Advisory Board?
• FAQ's
"How to Build Green in Petaluma" Page(s):
• Detailed explanation of the program
o How the program works
o . The Green Points Rating Process
Outreach & Marketing
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• Steps to Green Points Rating diagram with links to key pages
with additional information about each step
o How to find and work with Raters
Include Excel table of current raters w/links)
o Technical Assistance and resources available
c Staff contact information
• Recommendations for Building Professionals (goals, training, conferences,
journals to subscribe to)
• Recommendations for Consumers (goals, resources, questions to ask, etc.)
• Explanation of relationship with BIG
• Build It Green (www.builditgreen.org)
o BIG resources (Ask an Expert, Material database, fact sheets, case
studies, lists of CGB Professionals, CGB Raters, Councils/Guilds,
Home Tours, Green Remodelers Guild, etc.)
"PRIG Certification Materials and Forms" Page:
Downloads and descriptions of all of program related publications, templates, tools,
including:
• Green Building Points Guideline books;
• Green Points Checklists and Calculators;
• Initial and Final Application forms;
• List of CGBPs (from BIG and SSU-ETC);
• List of CGB Raters, [note: allow for files to be directly downloaded from our site
rather than leaving to go to BIG site] ;
• PBIG Fact Sheets. copies of news articles local case studies (direct link);
Local events and activities (classes, presentations, home tours, etc.); and
• Related city departments(www.ci.petaluma.ca.us/.........)
"Additional Green Building Resources" Page:
See Appendix G for a sample of resources to be listed.
Marketing & Outreach Estimated Expenses
The total estimated Marketing and Outreach expenses for the program launch at this
point is roughly $13,000. Much of this expense will be recouped through corporate
sponsorships. (We have already received sponsorship commitments totaling more
than $12,000.)
Ongoing Marketing and Outreach expenses are estimated at roughly $7,000 per year,
primarily covering printing costs of new materials such as Green Building Guidelines,
Outreach & Marketing
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
brochures, and so forth. This figure will depend on the actual quantities of materials
distributed by the City and replacement print quantities and costs.
A breakdown of estimated expenses for Advertising/Marketing (for program launch and
ongoing items) is provided in Appendix H.
Outreach & Marketing Activities Timeline
The Outreach & Marketing Activities Timeline is provided in Attachment I. This table
summarizes the actions and schedule for implementation of the Marketing & Outreach
component of the program. The table is current only as of the date of this
Implementation Plan. As activities and timelines are updated, this table will be
updated accordingly, and maintained separately by RPP and the Green Team.
Outreach & Marketing
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Program Operations
Operating within the Community Development Department, the two primary functions
of the PBIG program will be to: a) manage the green building rating process; and, b)
provide ongoing public and professional outreach and education. To coordinate these
functions effectively, Clifford Kendall, Chief Building Official, will serve as PBIG
Program Coordinator. The Program Coordinator position is expected to require only a
few hours per week, once the program has been established, and will be supported by
CDD counter staff, the City's Green Team, and the Stakeholder Advisory Team. This
section will describe in detail the PBIG Green Points Rating process (including the
green building guidelines, rating system, green building inspectors or "raters") and the
duties of the Program Coordinator.
The Green Building Guidelines
California has the nation's most stringent building regulations, including its building
energy code, stormwater regulations, construction defect legislation and other
requirements. In order to be useful, any green building rating system in the State
must reflect building standards that exceed these requirements in meaningful, yet
workable ways. Nationwide, there are more than 50 different green
PBIG's Green Building building rating systems. The two most widely known California -
Guidelines have already specific residential rating systems are the Green Building
been adopted by Guidelines and California Green Builder.
municipalities within 8 of The Green Building Guidelines were originally developed by
the 9 Bay Area Counties Alameda County with input from professional builders, green
building experts, and staff. They have since been updated through
a collaborative process involving a wide range of local, state and national experts and
stakeholders, and are now published and supported by Build It Green. The California
Green Builder program was developed by the California Building Industry Association
(CBIA) and is administered by Consol, a private energy consulting firm. The USGBC
has been working on a new Residential LEED rating system ("LEED-H"), which is
designed to provide a national standard to allow for consistency in green home
building certification across regional boundaries.
Residential Building
For new residential buildings, residential remodels and
multifamily buildings, the PBIG program (following suit with
many other local jurisdictions and programs) will utilize
Build It Green's series of Green Building Guidelines and
accompanying Green Points Checklists. This series of
published guidelines includes:
• New Home Construction Green Building Guidelines
• Home Remodeling Green Building Guidelines
• Multifamily Green Building Guidelines
These Guidelines are targeted toward mainstream builders
and homeowners and outline how green building practices
CONSTRUCTION
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
can be applied to every residential construction project.
The Guidelines describe cost-effective, proven green building practices; explain the
benefits to consumers, builders and communities; and demystify the materials and
methods used to build green homes. They are also designed to be compatible with
other third -party rating programs, so a builder employing the recommended strategies
in the Green Building Guidelines could also choose to have projects rated under the
California Green Builder program or a national system, such as the Energy Star
program or LEED for Homes, with minimal extra work.
The series of Green Building Guidelines each include a Green Points rating system
and Checklist that allows the architect, developer or builder, and the PBIG program to
rate the "greenness" of their particular project, and to have the project "Green Points
Rated." Following the Green Points Checklist, detailed descriptions of each
corresponding green building measure is provided, including discussion of the
conditions under which a particular measure should be used, and the benefits the
measure affords.
The Green Building Guidelines and Green Points Checklist have been adopted by all
of the other local municipalities that offer green building programs or have green
building ordinances, including Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Cotati, Windsor, Rohnert Park
and Novato. This fact makes it is easier for builders and developers who work
throughout the region to build green without having to figure out and adhere to different
standards when they cross jurisdictional lines. These Guidelines and systems are also
in use in many other municipalities throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
Commercial, Industrial and Civic Building
In larger commercial, industrial or civic projects, we recommend using the USGBC's
LEED Green Building Rating System in place of the Green Building Guidelines and
Green Points Checklist. The LEED System has become a widely accepted national
standard for evaluating a commercial building's environmental performance. For this
reason, and because of the high green building standard that LEED represents, the
PBIG program will recognize and offer "automatic" Green Points Rating to any building
that receives LEED certification and desires local certification.
While the most respected and successful commercial green building system in the
nation, the cost of documenting and certifying buildings under LEED can discourage
some builders from applying. Some builders (or the City of Petaluma) may wish to
use the LEED Green Building Rating System Checklist and Reference Guides as de
facto design criteria and guidelines for their commercial or civic projects, and then rate
their buildings under the PBIG Green Points system as a simpler and less expensive
alternative.
Historic Buildings and Historic Building Districts
Most of the green building features described in the Green Building Guidelines can
generally be implemented in any type of building project. Important exceptions to this
may include buildings designated as landmark buildings, and buildings located within
any of the City's three designated Historic Districts. These districts include: the
Historic Commercial District (encompassing much of Downtown); the Oakhill-
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Brewster Historic District (located north and west of downtown); and, the "A" Street
Historic District, located south and west of downtown.
Construction within these districts is subject to specific standards established by the
Secretary of the Interior (referenced on the City's Planning Department web pages),
which in some rare cases precludes certain exterior green building features listed in
the Green Building Guidelines. These uncommon cases can be reconciled and
solved through discussions by the Green Team and Program Coordinator. A sample
listing of potential conflicts between green building features and historic building
requirements will also be created, to anticipate as many of these situations as
possible.
Green Points Rating System & Checklist
Every aspect of a new building or remodel
building can include green alternatives to
conventional designs and products. This
is reflected in the Green Points Checklist,
which is a rating system that assigns a
given number of points to every green
building measure listed. The points have
been determined by how much positive
impact the feature has within its respective
category, how important the feature is to
municipal priorities, and/or other rationales
that suggest its use be encouraged. The
more Green Points earned, the better the
home will typically perform and the more
value it will provide. The lower point items
generally represent measures that are
simpler, easier to implement and offer a
lower level of environmental benefit.
Increasing point values may reflect
increased planning or implementation
requirements, and/or higher cost to
implement, along with increased environ-
mental, economic, and health benefits.
Green Points Checklist
A rating system is basically an evaluation tool that synthesizes the complexity of the
green building elements into an easy -to -understand measurement system. The Green
Points Checklist organizes these elements into sections that correspond to the order in
which a building project is built (site, foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, interior
Green Points finishes, exterior finishes, roofing, etc.), as shown at right, above. For a sample
represent building Checklist, please see Appendix J.
performance and The Checklist sections generally provide a menu of optional measures that need
value. to be installed or implemented in order to earn points within each category. The
total of all points eamed in all categories determines the "greenness" of the
building, with a minimum of 50 points required to become "Green Points Rated." To
facilitate the process of calculating points earned, especially since building projects
frequently undergo changes during construction, downloadable Excel -based Green
Points Calculators are available to accompany the Green Points Checklist. These
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Calculators automatically calculate the total number of points earned per measure
implemented in the project, and once completed, are printed out and submitted by the
independent rater (along with proper documentation) to the PBIG program for review
and rating (see below).
Green Points Amendments
The Green Points system provides flexibility for municipalities to emphasize and
reward specific green building features or measures that either may not overtly appear
in, or be given the point recognition desired in the Checklist. The Checklist has two
sections. N.3 and NA named "Community Design Measures and Local Priorities" and
"Innovation," respectively. BIG has already developed a suggested set of measures
and associated points for both of these sections. This set is by no means exhaustive,
and its intent is for local municipalities to use this suggested set and to create
additional measures that supports a municipality's specific objectives (which may also
be submitted by a builder). PBIG will likely adopt the provided set of suggested
measures, and take the summer months to consider additional measures to be
included as local priorities, or amendments to the Green Points system.
The Green Building Rating Process
In a nutshell, using the Green Building Guidelines, field experience, and/or other
information sources, a builder, owner or developer can design and include desired
green features and elements in their building. These features and elements are
verified and documented by an independent, third -party Green Points Rater. The
Rater calculates the points earned and submits a completed Green Points Checklist,
documentation and PBIG Final Application to the PBIG program. Completed and fully
documented applications receive a letter and Green Points Rated award from PBIG
that can be used by the building owner for publicity, sales promotion, and so forth.
The entire rating process entails 8 steps, as shown in the diagram on the following
page.
Program Operations Page 36 of 52
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
Independent Third Party Raters
The role of the independent, third party Rater is central to the certification process.
The rater assumes responsibility for verifying that green building elements and
features have been incorporated into a building; for providing clear and complete
documentation; and, for completing and submitting the Green Points Checklist and
Final Application for Certification.
Raters must have a background as a building professional, and complete two 16 hour
training program in order to be accredited. Build It Green offers Rater trainings at least
twice a year in the Bay Area. A current list of local BIG -approved Green Points Raters
is included in Appendix K. This list will be maintained on the PBIG web pages and will
updated periodically.
As trained green building professionals, Raters can play another important role in
addition to inspecting and verifying Green Points earned: they can serve as green
building consultants to the building owner, architect and builder. Ideally, the Rater
would be involved early on in the design process, when green building features can be
incorporated most cost effectively. However, a Rater can provide guidance at any
stage of the design or building process.
As independent professionals, Raters' fees are set by the Raters
Builders pay no fees themselves, and payable by the building owner/developer. Typically,
to the City to receive fees average $500-$600 for a single house (not including green building
Green Points Rating design consultation, which may be extra). For developments with
multiple units, costs will be higher, as Raters will need to inspect more
units. In most cases, Raters will not need to inspect each unit of a multi -unit
development, but will inspect a representative sampling of units, along with review of
plans and other relevant documentation
The only cost involved in seeking certification in the PBIG program is the fee charged
by the independent rater, and these fees are payable by the building owner/developer
directly to the Rater. PBIG charges no extra fees for application submission or
certification.
Integration with Existing Planning and Permit Procedures
To ensure seamless and customer friendly integration with existing CDD procedures,
all persons having contact with the CDD counter regarding new or remodel projects
must be informed about green building and the PBIG program. To ensure that this
takes place, all counter persons and other staff in CDD will receive training this
summer about green building and how the PBIG program works.
Prior to the program launch in October, CDD staff will update all relevant CDD
application forms, informational handouts, web pages and other documentation to
include reference to the PBIG program, the mandatory Checklist submittal
requirement, and resources related to building green in Petaluma.
Examples of these forms include
• Development Permit Application (Planning Department)
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
• Checklist for Accepting Residential Permit Applications (Building Department)
• Checklist for Accepting Commercial Permit Applications (Building Department)
• Residential Construction Information
• Addition/Remodel Information
To mesh green building application tracking with the existing Permit Tracking System,
Permit Department staff will insert a new classification in the System to indicate
projects applying for PBIG rating. The Department will also purchase new green card
stock for permit cards associated with PBIG applications to easily identify those
projects that are seeking certification.
Cultivating Customer Awareness and Familiarity
In order to expand awareness of the importance of green building and to develop
familiarity with green building features, information sheets can be developed to
accompany many of the building related handouts available at the CDD Counter, and
web pages. These information sheets will provide tips and techniques for "greening" a
variety of projects, from concrete flat work, to fencing, roofing, and so forth. Some of
these materials are already available through Build It Green; additional materials will
be created as needed.
As a tangible way to increase awareness and understanding of green building, and to
encourage builders to consider PBIG certification, the CDD will require that all building
permit applications received after October 31 2006 include a copy of the Green Points
Checklist, completed by the building/project owner or builder —regardless of the
submitter's intent to apply for PBIG certification. Green Points for the project must be
calculated to the best of the submitter s ability, however the number of Green Points
estimated (or act oally eligible for) shall not be a factor in granting the permit. This will
serve as an educational tool, and will not add any additional cost to the permit process.
Notices informing permit applicants of this new requirement will be created and posted
in all appropriate locations, including Permit Department and PBIG web pages
Owners/builders who intend to certify their projects under the PBIG program will also
submit a Preliminary Application for Certification with their completed Green Points
Checklist (See Step #3, PBIG Certification Process diagram, above).
Rewards and Incentives
One important incentive for many green builders will be the satisfaction of knowing that
they have constructed their building to a higher standard of value, occupant health,
environmental responsibility and resource efficiency. For these folks, formal, public
recognition is a welcome plus. For others, including spec builders and developers,
such recognition can be an important part of their competitive strategy, providing a
tangible way to differentiate their product from the rest of the field. Green Points rating
under the PBIG program will provide this objective recognition.
In addition to a formal letter from the PBIG program informing the builder that their
project has been rated, PBIG will issue attractive PBIG Green Points Rated certificates
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
to all owners/builders who's building achieves the Green Points rating. In addition, the
first five projects to be Green Points Rated in each building category (i.e., New
Residential, Remodel Residential, New Commercial, Commercial Renovation, etc.) will
be awarded a customize plaque that can be affixed to the exterior of the building. The
City will also issue a press release to the Argue Courier and Press Democrat
newspapers, announcing the building's rating in the PBIG program.
Additional incentives that the Green Team will be exploring include "feebates" or
financial rewards or benefits for achieving specified levels of Green Points, and the
possibility of informal expediting of those permit applications that are accompanied by
PBIG Preliminary Applications for Certification completed by an approved independent
Rater. These and other possible incentives will be evaluated and, if appropriate,
developed by the Green Team during summer, 2006.
Program Staffing
The primary aim of the PBIG is to assist building professionals and homeowners in
understanding the value of green building, the program requirements, and how to build
high quality green buildings in Petaluma.
Initially, the City will not require any additional staffing to operate the PBIG. The City's
Chief Building Official will serve as the Program Coordinator initially, a job which
should require only a few hours of week on average, once the program is launched.
The Program Coordinator's duties will include the following:
1) Serve as the Program's primary point of contact with City Staff, City Council,
Commissions, the community at large, building professionals, green building
advocacy groups, and the media.
2) Coordinate public education and outreach activities, including presentations,
speakers for public and/or service organization events, and share speaking
commitments with other members of the Green Team and SAT
3) Review Preliminary Applications for Certification submitted by builders,
developers or homeowners for completeness of basic project information.
4) Review Final Applications for Certification submitted by Rater
5) Facilitate monthly Green Team meetings, which will include review and
discussion of Final Applications for Certification, etc.
6) Collect, monitor and report program statistics for continual improvement,
outreach and evaluation purposes
7) Serve as ex officio member of the Stakeholder Advisory Team
8) Attend local and regional Green Building Forums and activities
9) Ensure timely and relevant updating of PBIG rating system and processes
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10) Perform other duties to advance green building and the PBIG program, as
needed
The Program Coordinator will be supported by the Green Team, a team of City staff
persons and 1-3 external stakeholder representatives. The charter of the Green Team
is to:
• Work with RPP to help design and launch the PBIG program
• Assist with public and internal outreach and education
• Review Final Applications for Green Points rating
• Evaluate how the program is functioning, and help in the ongoing development
of the program.
CDD counter staff will provide basic information and materials about the PBIG program
to prospective green builders and others, and refer more in-depth questions or issues
to the Program Coordinator. Counter staff can also be trained to review
There are several preliminary Applications for Certification for completeness, and follow up
steps the City can with applicants for additional application information, as needed.
take to support green As the program, and the volume of applications for certification increases,
building, at zero cost the CDD Director will determine the need for increased staff hours and/or
extra compensation for Program Coordinator or other support positions.
Steps to Further Support Green Building
To further improve the overall quality and sustainability of construction in Petaluma
and support the PBIG program, there are several important things that the City can do.
These include:
1. Leading the community by example, by rewriting City policies and contract
language and specifications to establish goals for green building and set consistent
standards. This will entail conducting research and reviewing other municipal
programs to distill the most appropriate language and provisions for Petaluma.
2. Insert specific green building language and goals in the General Plan update.
3. Update building ordinances (upcoming code update process) to reflect green goals
and standards.
4. Revise the City's RFQs and RFPs for new facilities and services to include green
materials, design services and construction/maintenance, and include green
building specification language and requirements in the City's service and
maintenance contracts.
5. Pass council ordinance/resolution to adopt green building guidelines as an official
city reference. This will cost the City nothing, but clearly sends the message to
local architects, builders and other stakeholders that the Petaluma is committed to
green building. Sample resolution language will be developed over the summer
months.
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6. Perhaps the simplest action to take is also one that can begin today: Integrating
green building messages into public officials' presentations and speeches and in
policy directions to staff.
An estimate of ongoing program operations costs is provided in Appendix L. This
estimate includes materials and advertising costs that may differ from actual costs
depending on consumer demand and printing quantities ordered. For example,
printing needs for the Green Building Guidelines series may be significantly reduced
by requiring interested parties to download these documents, instead of providing free
copies. However, this may prove to hinder the City's efforts to promote green building
as it places another "hurdle" (albeit a fairly minor one) in front of potential green
builders.
Please note that all costs provided herein are estimates only, and are subject to
change based on actual program requirements.
Program Operations Activities & Timeline
The Program Operations Activities & Timeline table is shown in Appendix M. Please
note that it is current only as of the date of this Implementation Plan. As activities and
timelines are further updated, this table will be updated accordingly, and maintained
separately by RPP and the Green Team.
Program Operations
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Evaluating Success
In order to know how well the Petaluma Green Building Program is meeting its goals,
and to support continuous improvement, a systematic way of tracking and reporting on
various aspects of program performance is needed. Much of this information will be
collected "automatically' through normal program operations. Additional information
may be collected via focused market research and from sources such as US Green
Building Council, Build It Green, local Association of Realtors, and others.
Generally, we can identify three different types of performance data that can
Evaluating program be useful in developing and growing a green building program: Outreach &
performance should Marketing performance, Program performance and Building/Community
be simple and performance.
relevant to the City's
resources and goals Outreach & Marketing measures assess the effectiveness of outreach
efforts, both in the short term (i.e., the program launch and first six months or
so of operations), and continuously as the program matures. Examples of these
measures include:
• # Inquiries rec'd by CDD about PBIG (ideally, correlated by timing with
publicity/advertising activities)
• # and/or column inches of articles, stories, press releases in news media
• # of PBIG web page hits
• # of brochures or other materials distributed
• Increased property owner demand for green methods/materials
• # of attendees in public and professional workshops/trainings
• # participants at PBIG Week and Gala Launch Event
• # of partners/sponsors participating in program launch
Program Performance measures help to evaluate the success of the PBIG program
itself, and how the program is affecting building in Petaluma. These measures may
include:
• # of new homes, commercial projects, remodels applying for / receiving
certification (Intl. square footage for commercial, industrial)
• Actual and average Green Points earned (per project, per type, etc.)
• Average cost to attain specified # of Green Points (where available)
• # and square footage of municipal buildings earning certification (and Green
Points or equivalent earned)
• # or value of local green products or services purchased (where data is
available)
• Percentage of all building projects applying for/receiving certification
• Builders, if they wish, may wish to track such areas as cost of green building
measures, increases in sales volume/price/activity; reduced callbacks, etc.
Evaluating Success
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The fundamental goal of a green building program is not simply to enroll participants in
the program, but to create benefits to building occupants, building owners and the
entire community. Building & Community performance measures look at data
associated with the wider impacts of green building measures. For instance, when a
Mediterranean, drought -tolerant landscape with a well -programmed irrigation controller
is installed in place of turf, it is possible to estimate the number of gallons of water that
will be saved (relative to a baseline figure) over the lifetime of the irrigation controller,
and so forth. Or, when a building is oriented and built to take advantage of passive
solar heating and the building envelope is designed to maximize natural heating and
cooling, it is possible to estimate the amount of energy that will be saved over
conventional practices for a similar building. Additional measures may include:
• utility cost savings
• waste diversion
• quality of indoor air
• changes in property values
• occupant and public satisfaction with green buildings and the PBIG program
(via public and community organization surveys and focus groups)
Acquiring and tracking this type of data generally requires extra effort, and the data
itself is often more difficult to quantify. However, new and more accurate industry data
is being collected and published almost daily about these and other impacts of green
building, such as the following:
• Lbs. of greenhouse gas emission reductions via green building measures
• Improvements in life -cycle maintenance and costs via green buildings
• Health effects (e.g., childhood asthma, environmental sensitivities, etc.)
• Number of new technologies deployed, such as zero -net energy buildings,
renewable energy systems, fuel cells, co -generation, water recycling, and
daylighting
It is not feasible for the City to collect and evaluate all, or even most, of the information
that may be available about green building locally. Limitations of time, staff capacity
and funding will dictate prioritization about which information will be monitored. To be
cost effective, the Green Building Program will need to refer to the research of other
organizations to evaluate many aspects of green building, especially to evaluate many
of the metrics listed under Building and Community performance, above. The Green
Team is currently reviewing potential evaluation measures and metrics, and will
determine, over the summer months, those that can be effectively monitored.
For a full listing of potential measures and/or metrics that the Green Team will be
considering, please see 'Possible Evaluation Measures and Metrics for
Consideration," Appendix N.
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Future Directions for Green Building in Petaluma
Looking at the leading edge of green building both domestically and internationally, we
can see at least four major trends at work: 1) increased analysis and documentation of
the environmental, economic and social impacts of green building (which are validating
many of the anecdotal claims made by green building advocates in recent years); 2)
the rapid growth of new, higher performance building technologies and materials; 3)
the push towards zero "footprint" development; and, 4) reflecting all of the
aforementioned trends, a shift in focus from improving individual buildings to strategies
that improve performance throughout the larger community and region.
1) Increased analysis and documentation of the environmental. economic and social
impacts of reen building.
a. As mentioned earlier, new studies on indoor air quality, daylighting, and
proximity to nature have shown impressive effects of green building on
occupants of office buildings, schools, and hospitals. Results of this research
have included the funneling of additional funding into this area. The figures
and references provided in the "About Green Building' section of this Plan are
good examples of this focus.
b. Now that the concepts of green building have had some initial penetration in
the marketplace, a number of green builders, architects, green building
programs, and trade journals have begun conducting focused consumer
marketing research to gauge buyer preferences. They are finding that once
consumers are educated on benefits and opportunities of green building, they
want to "buy green" whenever possible.
--' - ------ --- -
c. Much research is going into analyzing the full life -cycles of
New scientific analysis
building products in order to better understand the actual
focused on green building
long-term costs of green vs. conventional building
products and practices is
products. Life -cycle analysis takes into account such
helping to "mainstream" green
..externalities' as product sourcing, manufacturing
building and illuminate its
methods (energy, water, chemicals, etc. involved in the
many benefits.
process), delivery, installation, and end use of a building
---(---------------�
product.
d. Researchers are beginning to recognize the enormous energy demand (and
cost) associated with the pumping, heating, cooling and treating of water. This
is resulting in a renewed emphasis on water conservation as a means to
reduce both water demand, wastewater infrastructure costs, as well as non-
renewable energy use (and associated greenhouse gas emissions).
e. Documenting sustainability indicators on a community -wide scale is providing
new windows into the state of a community's overall health, and, by extension,
highlighting the impacts associated with green building.
f. Increased documentation and research throughout the field has led to a growth
in the number of green certification systems and certification agencies
promoting systems for evaluating, branding, and classifying green building
products or performance levels (such as USGBC's LEED or BIG's Green
Building Guidelines). The enormous variety of these systems, however, has
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
also led to some confusion in the marketplace, as well as a battle over which
will become the dominant standard. Over the next ten years, we expect a
gradual winnowing down to relatively few, more widely accepted systems,
which may help to eliminate some of the confusion that currently exists.
2) Rapid growth of new higher performance building technologies and materials.
a. There has been added funding for research and testing on best building
practices in the areas of HVAC systems, windows, roofing, insulation, and
moisture management. Early results and findings have been documented well
and are beginning to establish new and higher standards for building systems
design and installation techniques.
b. We all know that when exposed to the sun, light colors reject solar heat very
well, while dark colors absorb it. This may not always be true any longer —at
least to the casual observer: New research into "cool roofing" materials has led
to the development of specialized paint pigments which actually allow dark
colors to reject significant amounts of solar heat gain.
c. Advanced windows have been developed that can be instantly switched
between clear and clouded to block out sun and provide privacy.
d. Building integrated photovoltaic solar cells can now be pre -attached to roofing
shingles, integrated within skylights and windows, or can even serve as the
building's exterior envelope.
e. Higher quality adhesives for insulation or engineered wood products that are
free of formaldehyde are now widely available.
f. High quality building materials that reduce non-renewable materials (i.e. soy -
based foam insulation, cotton batt insulation, engineered straw panels, bamboo
or cork or wool or sisal flooring, etc.) are gaining increasing acceptance in the
marketplace.
g. Stormwater and "cool communities"' efforts have brought about a rise in use of
new green roofing and pervious concrete/asphalt technologies that better
reflect the way that natural systems operate while helping to reduce
infrastructure costs in aesthetically pleasing ways.
3) Zero "footprint" projects
The terms "footprint" or "net impact" refer to the resource demands or impacts that
a building or development makes on its environment. These terms generally have
their roots in the "Ecological Footprint" model developed by William Rees and
Mathis Wackemagel in 1996." Much research has been going in to identifying
strategies and technologies for entirely eliminating the resource "footprint' of a
building (which could also be called a "zero net impact" building). The primary
focus of zero footprint research is on energy use, although interest in reducing the
"water footprint" or net water impact is growing in many parts of the country,
including Sonoma County.
Future Directions for Green Building in
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Petaluma Green Building Program - Implementation Plan Final Draft
• Zero Net Energy Homes
Zero Energy Homes typically combine highly energy -efficient design and
technology with solar electric and thermal systems to produce as much or more
energy than they consume. Zero energy homes are technically feasible and
exist today —even here in Petaluma33—although they have yet to widely
penetrate the new home construction marketplace. With the probability of
continually rising energy costs, however, combined with improvements in
energy -efficiency appliances, building envelopes, windows, mechanical
systems, Solar electric (photovoltaic) technologies, and government incentives,
zero energy homes may not be too far off in the future. According to a recently
published study by the NAHB Research Center, the U.S. Department of Energy
and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (NREL), zero energy homes
could begin to diffuse into the U.S. home market as early as 2012. This could
ultimately result, the study concludes, in annual energy savings by 2050 of
approximately 17 percent of the U.S. energy consumption in single-family
homes even as over a million new homes are added each year."
Zero Net Water Homes
The City's Water Resources and Conservation Department is currently
conducting a study of opportunities and potential strategies for achieving zero
net water development in the future. This may be achieved through a
combination of water efficiency fixtures inside, water efficient landscaping on
the outside, and financing (presumably by the builder/developer) of water
efficiency retrofits to other buildings or facilities within the Petaluma water
system sufficient to offset the remaining water impact of the new building.
Another potential tool for achieving zero net water development is known as
PAYS°, and is modeled after a program originally developed and successfully
tested in the energy field. Resource Performance Partners has been working
with the developers of PAYS° for the past couple of years to apply this system
within the framework of urban water efficiency, and have made conceptual
presentations of this system to various local stakeholder groups, including the
Petaluma City Council. Here is an overview of how the program could work:
Under the PAYS'O system,35 water efficiency products and services are
purchased with no up -front payment and no customer debt obligation. The
customer at a location where PAYS° products are installed pays a tariffed
charge on the utility bill as long as the customer realizes savings and only until
all measure costs, including financing costs, are paid.
There are three essential elements of the PAYS® system:
A tariff assigned to a meter location, not to an individual customer;
Billing & payment on the utility bill with disconnection for non-payment;
and
Independent certification that products are appropriate and that the
savings estimated for those products will exceed payments for them.
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