HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem B - LEED Eval. for Bldgs.EUGENE CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Work Session: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Evaluation for
City Buildings
Meeting Date: November 8, 2004 Agenda Item Number: B
Department: Central Services Staff Contact: Glen Svendsen
www. cl. eugene, or. us Contact Telephone Number: 682-5008
ISSUE STATEMENT
The construction, operation and maintenance of City buildings create a range of environmental impacts.
In order to implement the City Council policy on Sustainability Principles, the Facility Management
Division is applying the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) criteria to the City's facilities. This work session provides the council an overview of
how the division is using the LEED "Existing Building," or LEED-EB, criteria to evaluate the
sustainability of General Fund buildings, and to develop strategies for improving their environmental
performance.
BACKGROUND
In February 2000, the council adopted Resolution 4618, which called for City departments to promote a
sustainable future that meets today's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their needs, and accept the responsibility to, among other conservation measures, minimize human
impacts on local, regional and worldwide ecosystems.
One of the specific sustainable principles to be implemented is that the City will lead by example. The
City of Eugene has an opportunity and responsibility to set an example for other organizations by
operating its facilities and services in a sustainable manner. The City is committed to assessing its
current practices and programs with respect to sustainability objectives. The City is also committed to
implementing sustainable practices that address purchasing of products and services, maintenance,
facility design, and municipal operations.
The LEED system applies the concepts of sustainability directly to the division's core mission: the
ongoing operation and maintenance of the City's facilities. The LEED system is well-documented and
based on the consensus of a large number of industry professionals. Using the LEED system enables the
division to concentrate on implementing the guidelines, rather than spending the effort to develop its
own evaluation system. The comprehensiveness of the LEED systems allows staff to expand from the
current preventive maintenance and energy conservation approach to a much broader focus including
site management, water use, characteristics of materials and indoor environmental quality. The broad
focus of the system gives us a framework to help coordinate sustainability efforts across City
departments.
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The City Council' s 2003 - 2004 Vision and Goals Statement includes the goals of Sustainable
Community Development and a Healthy Natural and Built Environment. The City' s ability to operate
and maintain buildings in a more sustainable way addresses both of these goals.
RELATED CITY POLICIES
The City's Environmental Policy, adopted in April 2004, commits the City to reduce environmental
impacts in all activities, including operations, maintenance, construction and waste disposal. Therefore,
the City is committed to continually review all activities to identify and carry out cost-effective and
achievable strategies to:
· prevent pollution;
· reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency;
· conserve water;
· reduce consumption and waste;
· reuse, recycle, and purchase recycled content products;
· reduce reliance on non-renewable resources, and
· consider long-term as well as short-term environmental consequences when making planning,
designing, engineering, purchasing, contracting, and budgeting decisions.
In 2002, Facility Management developed a draft sustainable building policy which can be viewed on the
division's web site. Subsequently, Facility Management expanded its green building program to include
the sustainable operations and maintenance practices summarized in Attachment A. The 2002 draft
policy is at: http://www.ci.eugene.or.us/asd/facilities/Programs/Green Bldgs/Sustainable_Bld.pdf
COUNCIL OPTIONS
This agenda item is informational only; no council action is being requested.
CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION
This agenda item is informational only; no council action is being requested
SUGGESTED MOTION
This agenda item is informational only; no council action is being requested
ATTACHMENTS
A. Summary of the Facility Management Division's current sustainable building operations and
maintenance practices.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Staff Contact: Glen Svendsen, Facility Management Division Manager
Telephone: 682-5008
Staff E-Mail: glen. 1. svendsen~ci, eugene, or. us
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ATTACHMENT A
Summary of the Facility Management Division's Current Sustainable Building Operations and
Maintenance Practices
Green Building program consists of an integrated framework of design, construction, and operations
practices that encompasses the environmental, economic, and social impacts of buildings. Green
Building practices recognize the interdependence of the natural and built environments and seek to
minimize the use of energy, water, and other natural resources and provide a healthy, productive indoor
environment.
The Facility Management Division has been implementing sustainable practices in many areas over the
past several years, beginning with the Division's energy conservation program in 1995. Prior to
evaluating potential for applying the LEED "Existing Buildings", or "EB", criteria to the City's building
inventory, the Division needed to establish a baseline of current sustainable practices. The Division
began reviewing current sustainability efforts related to facilities in mid-2004. The following outline
lists the efforts already underway. Both in Facility Management and elsewhere in the City, at the time
the Division began the LEED-EB assessment:
Energy/Utilities
Ongoing energy program has achieved 20%+ savings over 1995 baseline
Monthly tracking of all utilities, including water and wastewater
Reveals operating changes, malfunction and billing errors
Maximizing use of solar hot water at 2 of the City's 3 pools
Involvement in remodels and new construction design
Optimize use of controls systems
Holiday shutdowns
Night flush cooling
Materials
Low VOC paints and finishes are standard
Completed fluorescent lighting retrofits on 95% of our building area
Tubular fluorescents lamps are low mercury
All lighting products (including low mercury) are recycled
Green seal approved cleaning and paper products used at most locations
On-site paper, glass, metal and plastic recycling provided at most locations,
and in process of expanding to all sites
Automatic dispensing system for custodial cleaning chemicals
Maintenance
Proactive preventive maintenance program
Extends life of equipment
Saves energy by insuring the best operation of equipment
Cold water, no detergents, run-off control used for exterior pressure wash
Integrated pest management principles implemented
Refrigerant use tracking system
High efficiency equipment used when replacement is necessary
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Computerized monitoring and balancing of pool chemicals
Custodial work scheduled to reduce driving between sites
Electric mini-trucks and leaf blowers reduce emissions
Use of native plantings in landscaping
Education
Northwest Energy Efficiency Council Building Operator Certification-
9 staff certified, 3 more in training resulting in
12 out of 16 applicable staff certified
Specialized technology and general staff training
Internal Efforts in Other Departments
24 Hybrid vehicles in fleet or on order
B20 biodiesel used in all diesel vehicles
Weather controlled irrigation
Integrated pest management in Parks
Wood products recycling
Salmon habitat protection
Wastewater waste methane used for electrical generation
LED stoplights and pedestrian controls (red and green)
The above listing verified that the City has already instituted a number of sustainable procedures. The
goal of the Division's LEED-EB assessment is to learn how comprehensive these efforts are when
benchmarked against the national standards of the LEED system.
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