Item 2C: Amendment to Sustainable Building Policy

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RELATED CITY POLICIES There are no City policies directly related to this resolution. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council can adopt the proposed resolution, which would change the language of the exception policy to meet the original intent of the earlier amendment to Section 5. The council could choose not to adopt this resolution, and Section 5 of the Sustainable Building Policy would continue to require both conditions for an exception to certification. In either case, City Council approval would be required on a case-by-case basis before an exception would be granted. There are two potential impacts of not adopting this resolution. One would be that larger, City-funded projects would be required to meet LEED Silver certification requirement, regardless of the incremental cost impact, since the project is not receiving a majority of funding from an outside source. This is most likely to occur if the City project involves construction that is significantly different from the type of buildings on which the LEED system was based. The second scenario is a project funded primarily by an outside agency that does not recognize “non- traditional” sustainable features as eligible project expenditures, regardless of whether or not those features cost more than traditional construction techniques. An outside-funded project would only be eligible for an exception to the certification policy only if total costs were 10% or more above traditional construction costs. In this case, for a project to move ahead, the City would have to fund any sustainable features not accepted by the funding agency, regardless of whether those features add to the total project cost or not. The result would be loss of outside funding that could otherwise be used for the project, and an increase in the City’s share of a project’s cost. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager’s recommendation is to approve the proposed resolution, including Exhibit A, revising the language of Section 5 of Resolution 4884. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to adopt Resolution 4887amending the Sustainable Buildings Policy adopted by Resolution No. 4884. ATTACHMENTS A. Proposed Resolution __________, including Exhibit A B. Proposed Section 5, in legislative format comparing current and proposed language C. Resolution 4884, including Exhibit A, as adopted by Council July 10, 2006 FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Glen Svendsen] Telephone: 682-5008 Staff E-Mail: glen.l.svendsen@ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M060814\S0608142C.doc