Item C: Resolution Adopting Sustainable Buildings Policy

Home Browse Search

As stated on the USGBC website (www.usgbc.org/LEED), “LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC) is a green building rating system that was designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, with a focus on office buildings. Practitioners have also applied the system to K-12 schools, multi-unit residential buildings, manufacturing plants, labo- ratories and many other building types.” The City of Eugene used LEED-NC as a guideline in construc- tion of the Downtown Library and Fire Stations #1 and #11. The rating system that applies to the operation and maintenance of the City’s existing buildings is LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB). The purpose of LEED-EB is to maximize operational efficiency and work-place environmental quality while minimizing environmental impacts. Rather than a one-time rat- ing, LEED-EB provides a performance-based benchmark for building owners and operators to measure current conditions and improvements to operations and maintenance on a consistent scale. In addition to the strategies noted above, LEED-EB also addresses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues including chemical use, recycling programs and facilities, exterior maintenance programs, and systems upgrades to meet green building energy, water, indoor air quality, and lighting performance standards. A related policy question is whether certification under the LEED system should be required, or if LEED should be used as a guideline for building construction and maintenance without formal certification. Obtaining USGBC certification under LEED provides independent confirmation that a project’s sustain- ability goals have been achieved. However, the process of certification entails additional administrative effort and adds to a project’s overall costs. For existing buildings, certification must be renewed every three years, requiring periodic administrative expenditures that have minimal benefit on the actual per- formance of a building. The type and size of a project also has an impact on the feasibility of certification. For new construction or additions to existing buildings, the environmental performance of that construction can be controlled more directly than remodeling or renovating a portion of an existing building. For small construction projects, such as a park restroom, limited economy of scale and the cost of certification may have a sig- nificant impact on the economic feasibility of certification. The City’s existing building inventory, which includes buildings from 100 square feet to 130,000 square feet, range from open air picnic shelters to highly complex buildings like the Library. A number of the City’s existing buildings have no centralized heating and air conditioning system, and limited operational requirements. As LEED certification is weighted on the performance of heating and cooling systems and adoption of sustainable maintenance practices, the potential to formally certify many of our existing buildings is limited. In fact, most non-occupied buildings do not have centralized heating and cooling systems or significant plumbing and electrical systems, and interior finishes are often minimal. As a result, non-occupied build- ings and other structures that clearly do not have the potential for LEED certification would be exempt from meeting the certification requirement. However, LEED should still be used as a guide in addressing site impacts, type and procurement of construction materials, and other aspects of the LEED criteria that improve the sustainability of the construction and maintenance of non-occupied buildings. Given these considerations, the recommendation is that all City new construction (which would include additions to existing buildings) of 10,000 square feet or larger achieve a Silver certification under LEED- NC. To put it into context, buildings of 10,000 square feet or larger account for about 75% of City- owned space. For new construction less than 10,000 square feet, the feasibility of certification will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. With smaller projects below the 10,000 square foot threshold, the costs associated with certification through the USGBC would represent a significantly higher percentage of the total project budget than for larger projects. A new building comprising 50,000 square feet, for example, 3