Sustainable Oakland
Mandatory Green Building Requirements in the City of Oakland
The City of Oakland has already provided leadership in the area of green building by passing Ordinance No.12658 C.M.S. This legislation requires that all City Building Projects covered under the Ordinance meet a minimum of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver under the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) rating system and be certified by the USGBC. The Oakland City Council, the City Planning Commission, and the Community and Economic Development Agency are considering mandatory Green Building requirements for certain types of private development. Mandatory green building requirements for private development will support one of the City Council's adopted goals to "Develop a Sustainable City", by "maximizing socially and environmentally sustainable growth, including conserving natural resources."
Background
To date staff has held four stakeholder meetings, three community meetings, and several public hearings related to the components of a potential Green Building Ordinance. Below are links to the staff reports for more information on the process and specific thresholds.
Planning Commission Directors Report; September 19, 2007
Special Projects Committee of the Planning Commission; March 20, 2008
Community Meeting; August 12, 2008
Planning Commission; October 1, 2008
Community and Economic Development Committee; October 14, 2008
Special Projects Committee of the Planning Commission; February 19, 2009
Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board; March 9, 2009
Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board; April 13, 2009
Community Meeting, April 20, 2009
Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board; May 11, 2009
City Planning Commission Recommendation on the Proposed Ordinance
City staff presented the proposed ordinance to the City Planning Commission on April 21, 2010. The Commission voted unanimously to recommend forwarding the ordinance to the City Council for adoption. The Planning Commission made minor changes to the ordinance at the meeting including clarification of the required green building checklists, the definition of a historic resource, staff determination on the checklist and green building rating system for a project, and requiring a re-review of the ordinance in two-years after adoption. The agenda notices, staff report, and proposed ordinance are available through the links below.
Click on links for Agenda | English Notice | Spanish Notice | Vietnamese Notice | Chinese Notice |
Staff Report
CED Committee
City staff presented the proposed ordinance to the Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee on June 8, 2010. Below is a link to the staff report and attachments.
http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/detailreport/matter.aspx?key=18748
The CED Committee voted to move the item forward to the City Council for the first reading of the Ordinance. However, the date for the meeting has been changed. The new date is:
City Council Public Hearing
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
6:30 PM
City Hall, City Council Chambers
Please check back for a link to the agenda notices, staff report and attachments for these meetings.
What is Green Building?
Green Building is a holistic approach to siting, designing, constructing and operating buildings to reduce, eliminate or reverse the impacts of conventional building. Green Building benefits the environment, the community and the economy. In summary, Green Building is good design, construction, operation and maintenance!
Green Building Objectives:
- Increased energy and water efficiency
- Site integration
- Natural resource conservation
- Improved indoor air quality
- Reduced utility, maintenance, and infrastructure costs
Why is Green Building Important?
The demolition, construction, and use of buildings have an impact on the environment, the economy, and our health. Green buildings reduce energy use, conserve water indoors and out, limit solid waste during construction, and in urban areas reduce the amount of vehicle miles traveled by residents. All of these benefits have been found to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a green house gas (GHG) and contributor to global warming. In addition, green buildings are constructed from sustainable products that preserve natural resources through the use of local materials and recycled products. Green buildings benefit occupants through the use of healthy building materials, including zero to low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and formaldehyde free products. In addition, green buildings encourage the growth of additional businesses and jobs in order to support the needs of the green building industry.
In the US, buildings:
- Consume 65% of electricity*
- Generate 30% of greenhouse gas emissions*
- Create 136 million tons of C&D waste each year*
- Consume 12% of potable water**
- Use 40% of raw materials globally+
- Indoor air pollution is 2-5X worse inside than outside<>
United States Department of Energy
** United States Green Building Council
+ Natural Resource Defense Council
<> United States Environmental Protection Agency
Questions or Comments?
You can email your questions or comments to Heather Klein at hklein@oaklandnet.com or at (510) 238-3659.
For More Information, Resources, and Guidelines check out the website at http://www.oaklandpw.com/Page29.aspx
*Note: The Green Building website is in the process of being updated over the next few months. Check back at this website for additional information about the planning efforts underway described below.
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