Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Planning & Development Services
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TO: |
Thomas M. Markus, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Barry Walthall, Building Official Eileen Horn, Sustainability Coordinator |
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CC: |
Scott McCullough, Director, Planning & Development Services Kurt Schroeder, Assistant Director, Planning & Development Services, Development Services |
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Date: |
May 9, 2017 |
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RE: |
White Paper on Sustainable Construction and Energy Conservation |
Introduction
This report examines sustainable design and construction best practices and energy conservation codes, and potential opportunities to incorporate sustainable construction into the City’s development standards. Sustainable design and construction, or “green construction”, references an all-inclusive approach to design and construction of buildings and facilities that address conservation practices intended to reduce the negative impacts of construction and increase positive impacts, including reducing the life-cycle ownership costs of facilities, improving energy efficiency and water conservation, and reducing material consumption. Components that are often considered in green construction include:
· Site development and land use: Preservation of natural resources; stormwater management; irrigation; vegetation, soils and erosion control; site waste management; transportation impact; heat island mitigation; site lighting.
· Material resource conservation and efficiency: Construction material management; construction waste management; waste management and recycling; material selection; building envelope moisture control.
· Energy conservation: Modeled performance; metering, monitoring and reporting; automated demand response infrastructure; building envelope systems; building mechanical systems; building service water heating systems; building electrical power and lighting systems; specific appliances and equipment; building renewable energy systems; energy systems commissioning and completion.
· Water resource conservation, quality and efficiency: Fixtures, fittings, equipment and appliances; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and equipment; water treatment devices and equipment; metering; nonpotable water requirements; rainwater collection and distribution systems; gray water systems; reclaimed water systems; alternate onsite nonpotable water sources.
· Indoor environmental quality and comfort: Building construction features, operations and maintenance facilitation; HVAC systems; indoor air quality and pollutant control measures; prohibited materials; material emissions and pollutant control; acoustics; daylighting.
Currently Adopted City Codes
The City’s adopted building codes are minimum standards that govern the design, construction and use of buildings with the objective of promoting the health, safety and welfare of occupants of the built environment. These minimum standards include some provisions that promote green construction but are not intended to and do not provide regulation for comprehensive application of green construction principals. Examples include plumbing code regulations that limit the flow of water that may be used to operate water closets, and limit the flow rate of potable water for shower heads and other plumbing fixtures. The energy conservation code is another example, and while the provisions are comprehensive, energy conservation is addressed unilaterally with no coordination with other green construction principals.
The City’s Land Development Code provides for other examples of specific areas in which principals of green construction are addressed, such as regulations for flood resistant construction, flood hazard reduction, erosion control and storm water detention, retention and drainage.
Addressing these types of sustainability issues individually is appropriate and effective in accomplishing objectives to improve energy and water conservation, prevent flood hazards and improve performance of storm drainage. However, these currently adopted codes do not provide comprehensive standards or any method for evaluation for the performance of buildings and structures in relation to sustainable design and construction.
Green Building Certification Programs
There are a variety of green building certification systems that architects and building owners can choose from. The table below represents several of the most commonly used and respected green building rating and certification systems in the marketplace.
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CERTIFICATION SYSTEM |
SINGLE- OR MULTI- ATTRIBUTE |
TYPE OF CERTIFICATION |
MANAGING ORGANIZATION |
ISSUES / AREAS OF FOCUS |
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Single-Attribute |
Government certification using a benchmarking method |
U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE |
Building energy and water use |
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Multi-Attribute |
Green building rating and certification system through independent third-party verification. |
U.S. Green Building Council |
Performance in: · Sustainable Sites · Water Efficiency · Energy & Atmosphere · Materials & Resources · Indoor Environmental Quality · Locations & Linkages · Awareness & Education · Innovation in Design |
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Multi-Attribute |
Green building guidance
and assessment program for existing buildings and new construction. |
Green Building
Initiative in the U.S. |
Environmental
assessment areas to earn credits in: · Energy · Indoor Environment · Site · Water · Resources · Emissions · Project/Environmental Management |
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Multi-Attribute |
Performance-based standard, and certification program for: Landscape and infrastructure projects, Partial renovations and complete building renewals, New building construction, and Neighborhood, campus and community design |
International Living Future Institute |
Performance areas include:
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Multi-Attribute |
Certification program using the Living Building Challenge which can be applied to any building type. |
International Living Future Institute |
One hundred percent of the project's energy needs must be supplied by on-site renewable energy. |
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Multi-Attribute |
Performance based passive building standard Third-party RESNET approved quality assurance/quality control Earns U.S. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home status Includes HERS rating |
Passive House Institute US |
Any type of building. · air tightness requirement · source energy limit · space conditioning criteria |
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Multi-Attribute |
Third party verified rating system for development projects located on sites with or without buildings. |
Administered by GBCI |
Performance criteria in
the areas of: · Water · Wildlife Habitat · Energy · Air Quality · Human Health · Outdoor recreation opportunities |
https://www.wbdg.org/resources/green-building-standards-and-certification-systems
In the City of Lawrence, we have seen architects and building owners primarily utilizing the LEED and EnergySTAR green building certification systems, which are detailed below.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a certification program administered by the United States Green Building Council (USBGC). LEED certification works for many building types and four levels of certification are offered: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The certification level is assigned based on a rating system that awards points for design features that meet or exceed design objectives in the categories of location and transportation, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation, and regional priority. Projects must receive 40 points to achieve LEED Certified status, 50 points for Silver; 60 points for Gold and 80 points for Platinum certification. The LEED Scorecard that lists all the available categories is attached in Appendix A.
Projects seeking LEED certification must meet prerequisites that include construction activity pollution prevention, indoor and outdoor water use reduction, building level metering for water and energy, minimum energy performance, commissioning and verification of energy systems performance, refrigerant management, storage and collection of recyclables, construction and demolition waste management, minimum indoor air quality performance and environmental tobacco smoke control. Prerequisite requirements ensure that projects broadly adhere to general green construction principles. Electives for which points are awarded allow designers to select design elements that are most compatible with the project site and general design objectives.
Energy conservation is a key component of LEED certification. Prerequisite requirements to certification include fundamental commissioning of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and renewable energy systems, and demonstration by designers that the project design will result in at least 5% improvement for new construction, 3% for major renovations, or 2% for core and shell projects in the proposed building performance rating compared to a baseline building performance rating. Projects complying with the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code as currently adopted by the City of Lawrence will most likely meet or exceed the requirement for minimum energy conservation, but designers must demonstrate energy savings by modeling or calculation methods in accordance with LEED specifications. The prerequisite commissioning requirements for LEED exceed the 2015 IECC commissioning requirements in most circumstances.
The LEED Credit Library allows for up to 33 points for Energy and Atmosphere improvements, more than double the points available in other categories. Projects can achieve as many as 18 points for optimized energy performance, and another 6 points for enhanced commissioning of building systems. Lesser point values are available for advanced metering, demand response, renewable energy production, enhanced refrigerant management and green power and carbon offsets.
The LEED system also promotes sustainable design through a certification program for professionals in the design and construction industry, including architects, engineers, building contractors and project managers. In order for a building or structure to achieve a LEED certification, projects must be designed by LEED certified design professionals and construction must be performed/managed by LEED certified building professionals.
ENERGY STAR
The EPA’s ENERGY STAR program started out as an initiative to track energy use performance in existing buildings, and to recognize high-performing buildings that achieve certain energy savings thresholds. ENERGY STAR isn’t just for existing buildings. Hundreds of commercial construction projects have earned recognition for being designed to be energy-efficient once built. So efficient, in fact, that they’re Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.
When a commercial construction project achieves Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR, it means that, once built, it’s intended to perform among the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide. It will also meet EPA’s performance levels for comfort, lighting, and indoor air quality.
While the ENERGY STAR label is well-recognized, it is not as comprehensive as LEED or other green building programs. It only considers the energy performance of the building. Therefore, it is incorporated as a component in other more comprehensive green building systems such as LEED and Green Globes.
International Green Construction Code (IgCC)
The International Code Council publishes the City’s adopted building codes and also publishes the International Green Construction Code (IgCC). The IgCC is a more prescriptive approach to green construction than LEED but addresses substantially similar principles of site development and land use, material resource conservation, energy conservation, water resource conservation, indoor environment quality, and commissioning, operations and maintenance. Jurisdictions that adopt the IgCC set parameters for prescriptive compliance, which may be supplemented by means of adoption of appendices to require more enhanced performance. IgCC appendices are similar to LEED in that project designers select elective provisions to achieve a minimum score above the baseline prescriptive performance.
Energy Conservation Code
The City has currently adopted the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The IECC regulates energy conservation for buildings of all types including commercial and industrial facilities, multi-family structures, and one- and two-family dwellings. Buildings designed and constructed in compliance with the IECC meet energy efficiency standards for construction of the building thermal envelope (basement walls, exterior walls, floor, roof and any other building elements that enclose conditioned space or provide a boundary between conditioned space and unconditioned space), building fenestration (windows, doors, glazed block or other translucent materials, and skylights), and building systems (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, service water heating, and electric power and lighting). The IECC is a continuously evolving code intended to provide regulations that will result in optimal utilization of fossil fuel and resources. Compliance with the IECC is a significant component in achieving LEED certification and is required by the IgCC.
Analysis/Comparison
LEED program benefits include comprehensive and flexible provisions for achieving certification, project design and construction are performed and/or overseen by certified professionals, detailed review of project design by recognized industry experts, final review of design and construction prior to issuance of certification to ensure project objectives are properly executed, and reduced costs for building operations. However LEED certification does not come without challenges.
Certification can be expensive, and LEED is primarily a US-based certification without much international recognition. Costs of certification include a registration fee of $1,200 - $1,500, a precertification fee of $4,000 - $5,000, and minimum review fees that range from $2,850 for buildings less than 250,000 square feet to $33,000 for buildings over 500,000 square feet. While these fees can be nominal on a multi-million dollar project, the key driver of LEED cost increases occur in the design costs. Architects typically charge additional design time to account for the documentation and submittal for LEED certification. A Lawrence-based architecture firm cited $1,500 per credit as an average fee. So, for a LEED Silver project (50 points) = $75,000 in additional design fees. Construction costs for LEED certified (lowest level) are often similar to non-LEED projects. Construction costs can increase significantly if pursuing Platinum certification.
The advantage of the IgCC is that the green construction program would be under the sole control and administration of the City of Lawrence. Challenges include the program maintenance requirements, such as initial code development and tri-annual code review and adoption (the IgCC is updated similar to other ICC building codes on a three year cycle), the substantial resources required to administer the program, and training for staff, design professionals and contractors in proper design and construction procedures. There are substantial numbers of local design professionals and contractors that are LEED certified or otherwise credentialed in sustainable design and construction, but most are not. Certified professionals could likely transition with minimal difficulty to the IgCC, but others would have a steep learning curve. Also, similar to LEED, design and construction in compliance with the IgCC would result in lower costs of building operations, but an increase in design and construction costs.
Many federal government projects are required to achieve LEED Gold certification, as do public and publically incentivized projects regionally. Some cities have chosen to require LEED for both public and private developments (i.e. Washington, DC’s Green Building Act passed in 2006). However, regionally, most peer cities have adopted LEED building policies that are only applicable to city-owned facilities:
· Fayetteville, AR: LEED Silver for new, city-owned buildings larger than 5,000 sq. ft. (2007).
· Flagstaff, AZ: Could be LEED Silver, Green Globes (level 3) or Living Building Challenge (full cert) for all new, city-owned buildings and major renovations larger than 10,000 sq. ft. (2014).
· Denver, CO: LEED Gold and Energy STAR (if applicable) for all new city-owned buildings and major renovations (2013).
· Cleveland, OH: LEED Silver for new, city-owned buildings and major renovations larger than 10,000 sq. ft. (2013).
· Kansas City, MO: LEED Gold for new, city-owned buildings and major renovations larger than 5,000 sq. ft. (2011).
· Johnson County, KS: Not a formally adopted policy but has a practice of building to LEED Gold for government buildings.
According to information posted on the International Code Council website, https://www.iccsafe.org/wp-content/uploads/stateadoptions.pdf, the IgCC has been adopted statewide by five States (Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Rhode Island) and the District of Columbia, and by individual jurisdictions in nine others (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Washington).
A table is provided in Appendix B that compares the prerequisite and elective provisions of LEED with prescriptive and elective requirements of the IgCC. (See Appendix B)
Policy Considerations and Recommendations
At this time, staff do not recommend that the City adopt the IgCC. To maintain the IgCC, staff would need to develop the initial code, and then go through the tri-annual code review and adoption process. This would take significant staff resources, in addition to the training for design professionals and contractors in proper design and construction procedures to comply with the code.
LEED certification provides independent, third party verification of green construction. It is also a nationally-recognized program that many peer cities utilize to meet their sustainable building goals.
Therefore, staff recommend the following:
“Proposed projects that meet one or more of the additional criteria may receive a property tax abatement in excess of 50%: …(c) a project proposed to be constructed in compliance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria may receive, over the baseline amount, an additional 5% property tax abatement for “Certified” or “Silver” certification and an additional 10% property tax abatement for “Gold” or “Platinum” certification.”
The city has had a version of this incentive policy for many years, and no developer has taken advantage of it. Therefore, staff recommend that the incentive be increased to encourage private developers seeking public funds to build to at least LEED “Silver”. For example, the abatement percentages could be increased to 15% for “Silver” and 20% for “Gold or “Platinum”. To reduce the cost of certifying the projects, the policy could require only that the project be signed off by a design professional (architect) that, in their opinion, the project meets the LEED requirements.