City Council Study Session Agenda and Packet 2009 04 28

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lOUISVlllE GREEN BUilDING PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Develop a Green Building Program for residential and commercial buildings. 2. Immediately adopt the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and implementation of IECC professional training for building professionals, Building Department staff and Planning staff, elected officials, and stakeholders. Note: This training would be organized and funded through the Governor's Enerav Office (GEO). 3. Provide green building training for building professionals (builders, developers, architects and engineers), Building Department staff, Planning staff, elected officials, and stakeholders. (i.e. Green Advantaqe through What's Workinq. 4. Transition Louisville is creating a green building workshop series for homeowners to help make healthy, energy efficient choices when they remodel or build their homes. We recommend that the City of Louisville play an active role in shaping this workshop series. INTRODUCTION Energy efficiency has moved to the forefront of our minds. The cost of rising fuel prices last summer sounded the alarm bells and rekindled our awareness of our dependence on foreign oil and our insatiable appetite for cheap, easy energy. The United State's oil supply peaked in 1970, and while it is widely debated about when the world's oil supply will peak, there has been long-term speculation by leading energy experts that it will happen sometime in 2010. With the current economic downturn, the fuse has been lit and our race to a more energy efficient world is ever more important. Over the past decade (and longer) it has become abundantly clear that our use of energy and natural resources is unsustainable. The ways we drive our cars, build our buildings and grow our food must change. Following the momentum of energy efficiency incentives built into the Economic Stimulus Plan and the development of the New Energy Economy set forth by the current Obama administration and adopted by Governor Ritter, we feel this is Louisville's time to establish a meaningful plan for how our homes and buildings use energy. Mona Newton, Louisville resident and Regional Representative for the Governor's Energy Office, says that the City of Louisville has a real opportunity to be a leader for small towns across the Front Range in energy efficiency and green building. Louisville is already becoming a leader in sustainability, as one of the early-established Transition Initiatives in the United States. Transition is a worldwide movement committed to relocalization and creating more sustainable communities, resulting in lives that are more fulfilling, socially connected and resilient. It is our recommendation that the City of Louisville develop a Green Building Program that is both an incentive-based program and a community-based program. There has been a groundswell of green building programs throughout the nation with many leading programs designed and implemented in Colorado and Boulder County. While we recognize the numerous merits of local green building programs, such as the Boulder Green Points Program and Boulder County's BuildSmart program, we also need to acknowledge that the City of Louisville is unique in its community profile and building stock, as well as existing and future build-out. The City of Louisville's newly adopted Comprehensive Plan primarily addresses the Transit-Oriented Development of the Hwy 42 corridor, which will mostly be comprised of multi-family and commercial square footage. Along with the commercial development currently underway at the Colorado Tech Center and the Conoco Phillips campus, along with an expanse of existing, under-performing housing, this seems to be the bulk of new construction in Louisville. The new green building program needs to address these areas directly. 10