Item 2C: Amendment to Sustainable Building Policy

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will be based on whether criteria can technically be implemented, and where there is a net economic benefit. Building sustainably may increase the initial cost of public building construction, renovation and, potentially, preservation. However, many sustainable features reduce long-term costs of building operation and maintenance. The City will use life-cycle cost and length of payback of initial costs to determine economic feasibility. 4. The level of LEED certification for projects requiring the City to obtain financing will be identified at the time the project budget is adopted by Council. By establishing the level of LEED performance during the budget process, any additional costs of LEED certification can be included in the project financing. 5. Construction of buildings owned and occupied by the City may be exempt from LEED-NC certification based on a finding that certification would not be economically sustainable. The ability to fund public building pro- jects must also meet the test of reasonableness. In the case where certification at the Silver level is not cost- neutral, the requirement for certification may be decreased to a ”Certified” level or waived a) if the costs related to certification are more than 10% above the estimated cost of construction without those measures, b) if the additional costs are related to sustainability goals and certification requirements which have not been and c) the formally accepted by an external organization providing the majority of funding for a City project, City Council approves theexemption. To ensure the application of this exemption is used judiciously, a finding of the need for certification at lower than the Silver level or waiver of the certification requirement will be made prior to construction of a project. 6. A report evaluating the City’s implementation of sustainable building practices will be submitted to Council each year. To ensure that the City-wide application of the sustainable building policy is implemented in the most cost-effective way, the application of the policy needs to be monitored, and the performance of the various City programs with building activities evaluated and reported annually to the City Council. L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M060814\S0608142C.doc