City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council discuss the item and provide direction to staff.
BACKGROUND
On November 26, 2007, the City Council directed staff to provide a report
summarizing the City’s sustainable efforts and new programs for consideration.
(Attachment 1 & 2).
In this report, a number of other planning/policy efforts related to sustainability that
have been implemented and/or underway will be discussed.
Sustainable Community Plan and the American Institute of Architects
In November 2006, City Council directed Staff to initiate the formation of a
Sustainable Community Plan (“SCP”). To achieve this, an "Interdepartmental
Sustainable Culver City Green Team" was formed consisting of City staff members
from several different departments and a Council Subcommittee. The objective of
the plan includes addressing five overall goal areas: Resource Conservation,
Environmental Pollution and Public Health Protection, Solid Waste Diversion and
Meeting Date: 01/22/08 Item Number: A-3
AGENDA ITEM: Discussion of the Sustainable Community Plan, the United States
Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and Related Green Building
Standards
Contact Person/Dept.: Craig Johnson
Catherine Vargas
Elaine Gerety Warner
Phone Number: 310-253-5802
310-253-6411
310-253-5777
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Listing of major commercial, industrial and multifamily builders
(01/16/08); Master Notification List (01/16/08).
Department Approval:
Charles Herbertson –
Sol Blumenfeld (01/03/08)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (01/08/08)
Fiscal Impact Review:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller ) (01/08/08)
City Manager Approval:
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Recycling, Open Space and Land Use, and Community Education and Civic
Participation.
In December 2006, Culver City received a grant award from the American Institute of
Architects (“AIA”) Center for Communities by Design to assess current sustainability
efforts and develop a Sustainable Community Plan (SCP).
In May 2007, Culver City was host to the American Institute of Architects
"Sustainable Design Assessment Team". Culver City received technical assistance
under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) Program and conducted
community outreach through charrette style workshops from which a draft final
report has recently been received; the final public report is pending. The
Interdepartmental Culver City Green Team and the City Council Subcommittee will
reconvene to review the results of the final report upon receipt and plan the next
steps necessary for the SCP for presentation to the City Council for consideration.
United States Conference of Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement
In August 2007; the City Council approved the Mayor signing the "U.S. Conference
of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement," which has a broad goal of reducing
greenhouse emissions and global warming; (Attachment 3). The City has continued
in its leadership role with respect to implementing local policies and programs to
further the overall goals of the Agreement. Examples include, but are not limited to:
(1) Re-consideration of the City’s mixed use ordinance (Goal 2); (2) Continuation of
the City’s Rideshare and Public Transit Use Program and support for the Expo Light-
Rail Project (Goal 3); (3) continued expansion of the City’s alternative energy vehicle
fleet (Goal 4); (4) consideration of green building standards (Goal 5); and
implementation of a Parks and Recreation Master Planning Process (Goals 3 and
11.
Green Building Standards
Culver City has made considerable efforts at green building measures, including:
1.) 2004: two voluntary green building handouts available to the public
2.) 2005: a green building tour for the City Council
3.) A green building presentation to the Planning Commission
4.) "Discussion of Future Green Building Standards in Culver City" City Council item;
(Attachment 4)
5.) In June 2007 the City Council gave tentative approval to a "Mandatory Solar
Photovoltaic Requirement," which was subsequently approved by the California City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Energy Commission; (Attachment 5). The second first reading of the photovoltaic
ordinance is scheduled for this evening.
DISCUSSION
In considering future sustainable programs for the City, staff recommends that one
of the first considerations be related to developing a green building program.
Green buildings are more energy efficient, reduce solid waste during construction,
reduce environmental pollution and conserve natural resources. Green buildings
create healthier work, learning, and living environments, with more natural light and
cleaner air, contributing to improved health, comfort, and productivity.
Best Practices
The following is a brief review of the sustainable City programs of other California
cities that the City Council may wish to consider.
Santa Monica
The City of Santa Monica Sustainable City Plan (SMSCP) was initially adopted in
1994, and has been revised twice since inception, most recently in 2006. The
SMSCP includes eight overall goal areas; Resource Conservation, Environment
and Public Health, Transportation, Economic Development, Open Space and Land
Use, Housing, Community Education and Civic Participation, and Human Dignity.
The SMSCP incorporates a Santa Monica Green Building Program (SMGBP) to
help meet some of the goals set by the SMSCP and to raise the bar of excellence
for building practices in the City.
Santa Monica's green building requirements were designed to increase
sustainability without putting excessive burdens on builders or developers. Many of
the measures have some associated initial cost, though others can actually reduce
first costs and operating costs, and all of them increase the overall value of the
building. The basis for the green building requirements lies in two different Santra
Monica Ordinances as well as in the Santa Monica Municipal Code. Most green
building requirements apply to all commercial construction and major renovation
projects, as well as to all multi-family residential projects with more than 3 units.
There are also a number of requirements that apply only to specific types of
projects. The SMGBP includes an Energy Conservation Ordinance requiring
buildings to exceed the State of California Energy Code by 10 to 15%, depending
on the type of building, a Stormwater Management Performance Ordinance
requiring projected urban runoff to be reduced 20%, a set of Required Practices City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
applying to building construction materials and construction practices, and a set of
Suggested Practices. The SMGBP has 3 to 4 full time City staff members to
administer the program and the support of other City staff members in other City
Divisions.
The City of Santa Monica also has a "Solar Santa Monica" Program; a City
sponsored effort to make it easier for people to design, buy, and install solar
photovoltaic systems. The Solar Santa Monica Program includes a partnership
with "preferred providers"; installers of solar photovoltaic systems, in an effort to
collectively reduce solar system costs and streamline permitting.
For the Solar Santa Monica Program, Santa Monica hired an environmental
consulting firm to manage the program and perform on site assessments,
recommend specific actions for individual properties; based on the overall energy
use of the property. The Program recommends one of several "packages," one of
which is the residential "Solar Standard Package," which includes upgrades to a
house's appliances, building envelope, lighting, and a 2 kw solar photovoltaic
system.
See Attachment 6 for further information on the City of Santa Monica's sustainable
City programs.
Manhattan Beach
In November 2007, the City of Manhattan Beach City Council considered a
"Working Toward a Greater, Greener Manhattan Beach" report (WTGGMB). The
report summarized the past Manhattan Beach sustainable city efforts, noted the
formation of a Manhattan Beach "Green Team" consisting of several City
Department Heads, and established eleven "Environmental Sections"; Energy Use
at City Facilities, Vehicle Fleet and Fuel Usage, Traffic Controls and Streetlights,
Sustainable Development, Transportation and Parking, Water Usage and
Conservation, Urban Forests and Beaches, Solid Waste and Recyclables, Storm
Water Management, and Procurement Policies. The report summarized future
considerations and estimated the difficulty of implementing the Sections.
Manhattan Beach Council is scheduled to return to this item in late January to
discuss staff additions.(See Attachment 7 for the complete WTGGMB)
Pasadena
In September 2006, the City of Pasadena City Council approved a "Green City
Action Plan" (PGCAP); based on the United Nations Green Cities Declaration and
Urban Environmental Accords. Pasadena established an "Environmental Advisory
Commission" in January 2007. The PGCAP has seven overall areas; Energy, City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Waste Reduction, Urban Design, Urban Nature, Transportation, Environmental
Health, and Water.
In December 2005 the City of Pasadena approved a Green Building Program
(GBP). The Pasadena GBP applies to municipal buildings of 5,000 square feet or
more of new construction, non-residential buildings of 25,000 square feet or more
of new construction, tenant improvements of 25,000 square feet or more, and
mixed use and multi-family buildings of four stories or more.
The Pasadena GBP aligns itself with the United States Green Building Council
(USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) Ratings System.
(The USGBC is the foremost "green" building practices organization in the U.S.,
and is internationally recognized.)
The Pasadena GBP requires qualifying projects to: hire a Leed Accredited
consultant as part of the initial planning of the project, requires the Leed checklist
indicating a minimum Leed "certified" status (The lowest Leed level – The Leed
certification levels, from least to most demanding are: certified, silver, gold, and
platinum.) as part of the permit application documents, City staff Leed review and
approval, construction verification during the normal construction inspection
process.
The Pasadena GBP offers incentives in the form of Leed qualified City staff to
guide projects, a $1,000 rebate for each affordable housing unit part of a green
building, and various incentives from the Pasadena Water and Power Department.
Please see Attachment 8 for further information on the PGCAP and the Pasadena
GBP.
West Hollywood
In October 2007, the City of West Hollywood implemented a Mandatory Green
Building Program for private construction (WHMGBP).
The WHMGBP established development standards that apply to all development, a
point system for new construction with incentives for projects that achieve
"exemplary" status, implements a green building education and outreach program,
and also establishes that any new public building will at a minimum have a Leed
"certified" status. The WHMGBP categories will be monitored and enforced by the
West Hollywood Planning and Building Safety Divisions.
Please see Attachment #9 for the WHMGBP and a complete list of the points
system.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Pending California Green Building Code
Over the past 15 to 20 years the former 4 separate, different regional codes in use
in the United States have been promulgated into one set of national building
codes; the International Codes, published by the International Code Council (ICC).
The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) has adopted the 2007
California Building Codes; based on the International Codes, which went into effect
January 1st, 2008.
The 2007 California Building Code has Chapter 11 "reserved", or blank. Chapter
11 will eventually be the California Green Building Code (CGBC).
The CGBC has been a joint effort throughout 2007 of the CBSC, the California
Housing and Community Development Department (HCD), the California Division
of the State Architect (DSA), and the California Office of Statewide Health Planning
and Development (OSHPD). Work on the CGBC is continuing, there is no
published final edition date yet set, and in any case adoption of the CBGC will
probably be voluntary.
The draft CGBC includes planning and design, energy efficiency, water efficiency
and conservation, material conservation and resource efficiency, and
environmental quality standards, and is roughly similar to standards published by
the USGBC.
Potential Culver City Green Building Program
One component for Culver City’s Green Building Program would be City incentives
for green construction in the form of City construction permit fee refunds for any
project which obtains Leed certification.
The advantage of such a program is that it puts the majority of the effort on the
project developer. A project developer would obtain their own Leed consultant, or
use an architectural firm that is already Leed accredited, pay all typical City
construction permit fees, obtain construction permits, complete the project
construction, file documents with the USGBC and obtain USGBC Leed
certification, and submit the Leed certification to Culver City to obtain a refund of a
portion of their construction permit fees.
A 2004 United States General Services Administration report titled "GSA Leed
Cost Study" estimated Leed construction and certification costs. One example of
the report was based on a new mid rise federal courthouse, 5 stories, 262,000
square feet, base construction cost $220 per square foot Leed construction cost
impacts were estimated to be from $.76 per square foot (.4% of the construction City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
costs, $199,120 overall) for a Leed Certified rating, to $17.76 per square foot
(8.1% of the construction costs, $4,653,120 overall) for a Leed Gold rating.
Leed consultant and Leed review costs for the above project were estimated to be
from $.41 per square foot (.2% of construction costs, $90,200 overall) for a Leed
Certified rating, to $.80 per square foot (.4% of construction costs, $176,000
overall) for a Leed Gold rating. Overall Leed costs including additional construction
costs and additional soft costs were estimated to be from $1.20 per square foot
(.6% of construction costs, $110,120 overall) for a Leed certified rating, to $18.56
per square foot (8.5% of construction costs, $4,829,120 overall) for a Leed Gold
rating.
As an exercise, the above estimates may be extrapolated to a current pending
Culver City project; the Sony 4th Avenue shell building permit.
The Sony 4th Avenue project overall building permit, with an estimated
construction valuation of $4,700,000 if eventually issued will pay a total of
$574,288 in permit fees, $89,547 of which is the building permit fee. (This does not
include the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, Fire Prevention, or Public Works
engineering permit fees.) Using the GSA report as an guideline; the cost for the
Sony 4th Avenue shell building to obtain a Leed Certified rating may be an
additional .6% of construction costs; $28,200, or to obtain a Leed Gold rating may
be an additional 8.5% of construction costs; $399,500.
Culver City cannot refund the majority of the building permit fees, nor refund more
than the permit fees collected. Instead the City might refund approximately 25% of
the building permit fee for a completed project verified to be Leed Certified,
increasing the refund to 45% of the building permit fee for a verified Leed Gold
certified project. It would have to be determined if the amounts of the refunds
would be enough to increase the likelihood of Culver City projects obtaining Leed
certification.
Other Sustainable Considerations
Development of a Preferred Vendor List
Such a program may be similar to the Solar Santa Monica Program, or possibly
could even be a partnership with the existing Santa Monica Program, which uses
an environmental consulting firm to perform on site assessments, partnering with a
preferred solar system vendor list, to reduce solar system costs. The Santa Monica
"Solar Standard Package" for example has a gross cost of $22,800, discounted to
$14,900, and includes an $800 allowance for a new, more efficient refrigerator,
upgrades to a house's exterior envelope, lighting, and a 2 kw solar system. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
This program could also be further enhanced beyond solar to include other
vendors that can retrofit existing buildings with more energy efficient alternatives.
Landscaping Guidelines and Tree Programs
A basic part of the West Hollywood Green Building program is to preserve existing
canopy trees, and promote new deciduous canopy trees. Culver City has an
existing Street Tree Master Plan (STMP) dating from 2002, and landscaping
requirements for new projects as part of the City Zoning Code.
Existing Culver City trees may be removed with Planning division approval; new
street trees are required if applicable for all new developments, and the City
landscaping standards for new developments are enforced.
Culver City could upgrade the requirements of the STMP, or could require
additional canopy trees or additional drought tolerant landscaping for all new
developments.
Metropolitan Water District (“MWD”) has included Culver City in an Accelerated
Audit Program that will report the cover irrigation systems, valve by valve, to show
how efficient the system is and where repairs should be made to improve efficiency
to the target range suggested by MWD. This audit will also give a suggested
maintenance schedule. Auditors will note the types of plants, their locations, and
the soil they are situated in, then advise on how much water those plants should
be receiving to avoid overwatering. This report will help establish a water use
benchmark assessment. Locations include city facilities, parks and some medians.
Energy Efficiency Programs for Housing Rehabilitation Projects
Another program to consider would be developing an Energy Efficiency Program
for our current Housing Rehabilitation Program. This program would work to
install/retrofit energy efficient appliances such as lighting, furnaces, low flow water
toilets, windows, building envelope improvements, irrigations systems in future
housing rehabilitation projects. Such a program would provide several benefits to
our community reflected in energy use reduction and water conservation. The
Denver Housing Authority, though an Energy Performance Contract with
Honeywell, is currently working to install energy savings in 3,700 public Housing
Units through a phased approach (See Attachment 11).
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Costs may be divided into one time program set up costs, annual costs, or costs per
individual project. The following are cost estimate comparisons of several potential City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
program models. Please note that the numbers are estimates only based on
preliminary projections:
One Time Set up Annual Cost Cost per Project
Cost (to the City) (to the City)
The City of Santa $200k consultant, $200k for two none
Monica model; a full $25k for an additional additional full (new City projects
green building program inspection vehicle time permanent may cost an
for all major private employees additional 1 - 9%)
construction
The City of Pasadena $110k consultant, $100k for one none
or City of West $25k for an additional additional full (new City projects
Hollywood model; a inspection vehicle time permanent may cost an
partial green building employees additional 1 - 9 %)
program for most
private construction
Partial permit fee none $25k - $100k $10k - $20k,
refund as an incentive depending on the
to obtain Leed size of the project
certification
Adoption of a future $25k for an additional $100k for one none
California Green inspection vehicle additional full (new City projects
Building Code time permanent may cost an
employee additional 1 - 5 %
Costs related to developing the preferred vendor list, updating street tree program
and energy efficiency program for Housing would be absorbed through City Staff.
The scope of the programs would indicate the total time required implementing and
subsequent staff time costs.
SUMMARY
A green building program may be considered part of an overall Culver City
Sustainable Community City Plan.
There is consensus among cities that green building/sustainable design plan review
and inspection processes must be integrated with the typical discretionary review
and subsequent building permit and field inspection processes. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Green building plan review and field inspection processes involve many different
City staff; the Planning Division staff, the Building Safety building, mechanical,
plumbing, and electrical staff, the Engineering Division staff and the Environmental
Programs Division staff, among others.
There is also consensus among Cities that most green building projects are better
served when there is a central City staff member guiding and watching over the
project from initial project concept to field inspection; working in coordination with the
various City experts noted above.
Staff recommends that any new Green Building staff split their time between plan
review and project coordination in the office and field inspections to verify
compliance.
In addition to the Green Building Program, there are several other sustainable
initiatives that the City could consider at this time. A preferred vendor list for solar
and other energy efficient alternatives could be developed and provided to the
community to increase cost savings to individual consumers, enhancement of
current street tree programs could focus on utilizing more drought resistant species,
and an Energy efficiency program could be developed for future Housing
Rehabilitation projects.
These suggestions reflect a few of the options that Culver City could implement,
however, is not representative of all of the sustainable initiatives that could be
developed. Several attachments have been included to provide a broad view of
other environmental programs that have been implemented in other local cities.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Current Culver City Sustainable Efforts
2. Culver City Council Discussion of Green Building and Related Issues,
November 26th, 2007
3. U.S Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
4. Culver City Council Discussion of Green Building Standards February 2005
5. Culver City Local Energy Plan approved by the California Energy Commission
6. City of Santa Monica Green Building and Solar Santa Monica excerpts
7. City of Manhattan Beach "Working Toward a Greener Manhattan Beach"
8. City of Pasadena Green City Action Plan excerpts.
9. City of West Hollywood Mandatory Green Building Plan
10. City of Santa Cruz, Environmental Specialist Recruitment
11. “Going Green in Denver” City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
MOTION:
That the City Council:
Provide direction to staff relating to a potential Green Building Program and other
sustainable initiatives that could be implemented in Culver City.