City of Madison
Legislative File ID   07453
Type:   Resolution    Status:   Passed
Enactment Date:   1/22/2008    Enactment No.:   RES-08-00109
Title:  
SUBSTITUTE - Requiring Green Building Certification for new City buildings.
Controlling Body:   SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE
Introduced:   9/5/2007    Version:   2
Final Action:   1/22/2008    Contact:   Debbie Fields 608-266-4071
Name:  
Requiring Green Building Certification for new City buildings.
Extra Date 1:  
Requester:   SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE
Sponsors:  
Satya V. Rhodes-Conway, Robbie Webber, Brian L. Solomon, Michael E. Verveer, Larry Palm, Joseph R. Clausius, Tim Gruber, Marsha A. Rummel, Michael Schumacher, Eli Judge, Brenda K. Konkel, Julia S. Kerr
Legislative History
DateActing BodyAction TakenMotion
9/4/2007COMMON COUNCILRefer to the SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE Completed on 1/14/2008
9/6/2007Council OfficeFiscal Note Required / Approval to the Comptroller's Office/Approval Group Completed on 9/12/2007
9/6/2007Comptroller's Office/Approval GroupFiscal Note Pending to the Council Office due on 9/6/2007. Completed on 9/6/2007
Notes: Knepp
9/6/2007Council OfficeReferred for Introduction
Notes: Sustainable Design and Energy Committee, Comptroller (for fiscal note)
9/6/2007SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEEFiscal Note Required / Approval to the Comptroller's Office/Approval Group Completed on 9/12/2007
Notes: Use 'after CC intro' approval & send to Sustainable Design & Energy Committee.
9/12/2007Comptroller's Office/Approval GroupApproved Fiscal Note By The Comptroller's Office (AFTER CC INTRO) to the SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE Completed on 9/12/2007
Notes: Knepp
11/6/2007SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEEThis Resolution was Referred to the SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE, due back on 12/10/2007. Sherrie Gruder presented information from a new study by the New Buildings Institute on the performance of LEED certified buildings reported on at the Greenbuild conference. Findings after at least one year operations of 125 LEED certified buildings are that, at the certified level, they perform 25% below code on energy use, LEED Silver perform 35% below code on energy use and LEED Gold and Platinum buildings are 45% better than code than non LEED buildings. The committee discussed how information about the Green Building Resolution could best be presented to the Common Council. The committee agreed that a compelling argument would address two points: First, why to use LEED Certification and second, why to go through the process of having a building be LEED Certified. Judy Compton said she would like to state for the record that she is in favor of the City building green buildings but does not support the Green Building Resolution requiring the certification process. Satya Rhodes Conway motioned, seconded by Dave Drummond, to refer this item to the SDE meeting of December 10th. Sherrie Gruder, Chair of the SDE Committee, and City staff will draft a fact sheet about the Green Building Resolution. The SDE Committee will review and make suggestions at the Dec. 10th meeting. Motion passed. Pass
Notes:
11/7/2007SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEEA motion was made by Compton, seconded by Bremer, to Refer to the SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE, due back on 11/12/2007. The motion passed by voice vote/other. Lance McGrath asked if a fiscal note should be included at the end of the resolution. Judy Compton said she believed there should be a dollar amount with the fiscal note and will ask on Council Floor. Judy Compton said she disagreed with the language in the resolution that could potentially make LEED certification a monopoly and said she also objects to the cost associated with pursuing the certification. She said she agrees with the idea of officially making it City policy that the City will build Green Buildings. However, she suggested that a set of criteria be included in the resolution that stops short of requiring the commissioning process, which is part of the process to become a LEED certified building. The committee discussed Judy Compton’s concerns and proposal at length. Lou Host- Jablonski said that the motivator provided by LEED commissioning is very powerful. Without that guidelines provided by LEED and goal of commissioning, he said many Green Building projects become “all talk and no action.” Garrick Maine agreed with Lou Host-Jablonski. He said LEED is the “stick” that motivates the design team and makes the goal of building a Green Building real. Garrick cited the example of LEED providing a system for verifying recycled content and availability of materials, among other benchmarks. Additionally, LEED is the industry standards for architects and engineers and they receive on-going education about LEED. Sherrie Gruder said the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Administration developed its own sustainability guidelines based on LEED. However, she said the State of WI has run into challenges with enforcing their guidelines and is now re-considering using third-party LEED certification. As a separate example, Sherrie cited the Engineering Service Building (1600 Emil St.). She said when the building went through the retro-comissioning process, it was discovered that there were many controls associated with the building not being operated correctly. The building was not performing as efficiently as it could. The commissioning required in LEED helped to correct the oversights. The committee discussed implications of developing a set of Green Building criteria which included concerns about adding to the workload of building inspectors with documentation requirements. The committee also acknowledged that from this Green Building Resolution will follow another resolution that will address TIF development in Madison. Judy Compton said it is one matter when the City says “this is how we, the City, will operate” but it’s another when the independent builder is affected. She asked what if a building doesn’t achieve LEED certification. She asked if it would affect obtaining a building occupancy permit. Lou Host-Jablonski, speaking from experience with the Urban Design Commission, said the criteria for a building occupancy permit would be satisfied before and separately from LEED certification requirements. David Boyer said he was hearing Judy Compton’s two concerns as such: First, that the resolution not explicitly identify “LEED”. However, he added that if the framework criteria is written into the resolution, LEED might be the only system that could satisfy that criteria right now. In the future, that may not be the case. Second, the cost associated with paying for an outside audit. He noted that one benefit of the outside audit is that people operate differently if they know somebody from the outside will be evaluating their work. The committee discussed other standards being used for Green Buildings. These included five standards evaluated in a study conducted by the US General Services Administration for Federal Government facilities (USGSA). Judy Compton requested that a packet of supporting materials be provided to the committee and published to Legistar. (Request to be taken care of by next meeting on 11/12). Judy Compton made the motion for referral to develop a set of criteria to include in resolution. Seconded by William Bremer. Jeanne Hoffman will provide a list of criteria. The criteria would need to cover: 1. Framework 2. Result 3. Occupany Permits 4. Certification fees 5. Leed Certification compared to other programsPass
Notes:
12/10/2007Approved Fiscal Note By The Comptroller's Office (AFTER CC INTRO) to the SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE Completed on 9/12/2007
1/14/2008SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEEA motion was made by Host-Jablonski, seconded by Vickerman, to RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL WITH THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS - REPORT OF OFFICER. The motion passed by the following vote: BPW appointee, Bill Bremer noted editing changes on page two. Lou Host-Jabolowski noted that both the per/square foot and percentage are important to list. McGrath agreed. Bill (BPW appointee) also noted that the informational sheet or the resolution doesn’t discuss the levels of LEED. Satya noted that the resolution calls for silver and we don’t explain why in the informational sheet. LEED silver gets you 35% energy savings without going for a higher level of LEED. The City can go higher (gold or higher). The resolution also doesn’t say only certified. The resolution does say that if you can’t get silver – go for as high as you can. Satya is working on language to add to the fact sheet. “The resolution specifics a minimum silver level....” McGrath asked if this would include a garage structure. Satya indicated that yes, however, the FM can exempt projects. There was a discussion about CDA, CDBG, etc. Satya indicated that there is a question as to whether the CDA needs to follow city resolutions. Lou Host-Jabolowski questioned historic language. Change to “listed as historic” Lou Host-Jabolowski indicated that he wanted language that would provide opportunity for the FM to brief the SDE on when a project doesn’t meet LEED. Sherrie indicated that we should take that out of resolution because we will always do LEED. Others indicated that we need to have some sort of “out”. This resolution has a fairly narrow “out” clause. Sherrie indicated in the “Building...” that it be for buildings over 20,000 sq/ft. Satya indicated that we would leave this so we get more buildings. Some more minor changes, including reviewing exemption projects are reviewed by SDE. Change date to July 1, 2008. Sherrie added a be it Resolved... that these projects shall be evaluated for on-site renewable energy systems in the design process, Lou Host-Jabolowski moves to make the changes to the fact sheet and resolution. Seconded Vickerman. Lou Host-Jabolowski moves and Vickerman seconded to move the entire resolution. Passes on voice vote Cathy Mackin abstained. Pass
(10:0)
Notes: Adopt Substitute.
1/22/2008COMMON COUNCILA motion was made by Ald. Compton, seconded by Ald. Schumacher to Adopt the following amendment: strike 'lead' and replace with 'highest attainable certification. The motion failed by voice vote/other. A motion was made by Ald. Compton, seconded by Ald. Cnare to Refer to the Board of Estimates, Economic Development Commission, Plan Commission, TIF Subcommittee and Comptroller. The motion failed by voice vote/other. A motion was made by Ald. Bruer, seconded by Ald. Rhodes Conway, to Adopt. The motion passed by voice vote/other. Pass
Notes:
Approvals
ApproverDateApproval Status
Eric Knepp1/17/2008Approved

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