Portland, OR Green Building Policy

Type: Resolution

Status: Adopted on 4/27/05

Source File: http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?&a=80338&c=34835

Text:

Resolution No. 36310

WHEREAS, Portland City Council and the Portland Development Commission support sustainable economic development by encouraging the expansion of jobs in the environmental services and materials sector, which includes green building practices, products, and technologies; and

WHEREAS, development and construction practices are significant contributors to the depletion of natural resources and a major cause of air and water pollution, solid waste, deforestation, toxic wastes, health hazards, global warming, and other negative consequences; and

WHEREAS, buildings use one-quarter of all the world’s wood harvest, consume two-fifths of all materials and energy flows, and account for more than one-third of Portland’s CO₂ emissions; and

WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that green building complements existing policies related to development and natural resource conservation; including solid waste and recycling policies, the Local Action Plan on Global Warming, Comprehensive Plan, and Metro 2040 Framework Plan; and

WHEREAS, the United States Green Building Council has, in a national collaborative process, created Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards that identify a range of actions that define green buildings and establish certification processes for new and existing buildings; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, City Council adopted the City’s Green Building Policy to address the negative impacts of the construction and operation of the built environment on human health and well-being and the natural environment; and

WHEREAS, the City of Portland Green Building Policy contains the strategies of: 1) incorporating green building practices into all facilities projects constructed, owned or managed by the City, 2) incorporating green building goals and practices into Portland Development Commission’s ongoing and future program areas, and 3) promoting the voluntary application of green building guidelines in private sector building design, construction, and operations; and

WHEREAS, the City of Portland Green Building Policy requires all new and major retrofits of City facilities, and all City-funded or -financed projects, to achieve the LEED "Certified" certification level as set out in the United States Green Building Council’s LEED standards; and

WHEREAS, Portland has 49 LEED registered buildings, more than any other city in the United States, and most of these are privately owned projects; and

WHEREAS, during the first four years (2001-04) of the Green Building Policy, two projects are LEED-registered and green building practices have been incorporated into numerous new construction, remodel, tenant improvement, and public infrastructure projects; and

WHEREAS, Green Building Policy implementation tools such as the Bureau of Purchases’ "Green RFP" language for services involving LEED-obligated projects, the G/Rated Tenant Improvement Guide, and Portland LEED have been developed to help City project managers and staff implement the Green Building Policy in public projects; and

WHEREAS, the Bureau of Development Services’ permit Process Management and other process facilitation strategies have been identified as an incentive to develop LEED-certified buildings; and

WHEREAS, the Portland Ecoroof Study demonstrates that ecoroofs throughout the City would yield a variety of private and public environmental, economic, and social benefits; and

WHEREAS, a variety of North American municipalities have implemented aggressive green building policies that go beyond Portland’s current standards. The cities of Scottsdale, AZ and Vancouver, British Columbia have LEED Gold certification requirements for all public projects and the cities of Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; San Diego, CA; Santa Monica, CA; Alameda County, CA; Berkeley, CA; Arlington, MA; Atlanta, GA; Boulder, CO; Calgary, Alberta; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; and Kansas City, MO have adopted LEED Silver certification requirements for public projects; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Sustainable Development prepared the memo, "Portland’s Green Building Policy: A Status Report & Future Recommendations" (Appendix A ) to evaluate the Policy’s past and future efficacy:

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Portland City Council amends the City of Portland’s Green Building Policy as Binding Policy and to direct all City Bureaus and the Portland Development Commission to:

• Require that all new, City-owned facilities construction projects meet LEED Gold certification, requiring at least:

• 75% waste recycling
• 30% stormwater management beyond Portland baseline code requirements
• 30% water savings beyond Portland baseline code requirement
• 30% energy savings beyond Portland baseline code requirement
• additional commissioning as defined by LEED; and

• Require that all tenant improvements to City-owned facilities are LEED for Commercial Interiors (CI) Silver AND/OR G/Rated Tenant Improvement Guide certified; and
• Require that all PDC-funded projects that are currently required to meet the LEED Certified standard must meet the LEED Silver standard (for all projects where PDC assistance equals 10% or more of total project cost AND where the project is 10,000-ft2 or greater); and
• Update City of Portland’s Affordable Housing green building threshold and voluntary guidelines; and
• Create a sustainable infrastructure best practices manual and baseline requirements for public infrastructure; and
• Require all City operations and maintenance practices undertaken by the City or its contractors to apply the City’s Green Building Operations and Maintenance Guidelines under development by the Bureau of General Services. The requirements apply to all facilities, regardless of size and contract type (e.g., either in-house or outsourced contracts). The guidelines will sync up with ongoing maintenance requirements in the LEED EB rating system; and,
• Require design and construction of all new City-owned facilities to include an ecoroof with at least 70% coverage AND high reflectance, Energy Star^TM-rated roof material on any remaining non-ecoroof roof surface area; OR, Energy Star^TM-rated roof material when an integrated ecoroof/Energy Star^TM-rated roof is impractical; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that LEED for Existing Buildings (EB) Silver certification is required for all City-owned occupied, existing buildings; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the G/Rated Tenant Improvement Guide AND/OR LEED CI certification shall be implemented to guide all improvements made in City-leased spaces; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all roof replacement projects on City-owned facilities shall install an ecoroof AND high reflectance, Energy Star^TM -rated roof on any remaining non-ecoroof roof surface area; OR, when an integrated ecoroof/Energy Star^TM -rated roof is impractical, install an Energy Star^TM-rated roof;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Sustainable Development and Bureau of Development Services partner on "Project Green Build: Optimizing the Building Development Review and Inspection process to Encourage High Performance Building Practices" (Appendix B) that includes the following actions:

• Provide BDS Process Management for all qualified public and private sector LEED Silver-registered building projects; and
• Identify building and zoning code and process conflicts that inhibit green building practices and technologies; and
• Create an inter-bureau training program for relevant City development review and inspection staff; and
• Create an integrated marketing effort to promote the City’s green building services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City will continue to support the Green Investment Fund and explore other structural incentives such as System Development Charge waivers and Floor Area Ratio bonuses to facilitate the implementation of green buildings in Portland; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City will Require all City Architecture and Engineering service contracts to follow the Bureau of Purchases Green policies RFP for LEED projects; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City will require green building training for all appropriate city project managers and maintenance and operations staff; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Green Building Advisory Team ("GBAT"), made up of members from the City Bureau’s of Water, General Services, Environmental Services, Transportation, Sustainable Development, Parks, Planning, Development Services, Maintenance, and the Portland Development Commission, will work with City project teams to implement relevant Green Building Policy directives in City-owned projects; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Sustainable Development will provide technical and organizational assistance to help all City bureaus to meet the requirements of the City of Portland Green Building Policy and will provide biennial progress reports to City Council.