City Council Study Session Agenda and Packet 2009 04 28

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J LOUISVILLE 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 The desired outcome of Louisville Green Building Program would be to save money by increased energy savings, improve health in homes, increased building durability and longevity, and better resource usage through careful material selection. In the US, buildings are responsible for 48% of all energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions annually. 76% of all power plant-generated electricity is used just to operate. One half or more of existing buildings and homes were built before there were any broadly accepted or enforced standards for insulation, air sealing, vapor barriers, proper sizing of heating/cooling systems, and overall consideration of performance of the building envelope. Green building programs implemented across the nation have shown a 22% reduction in building energy consumption. The average home that undergoes a home energy audit and implementation of improvement recommendations realizes energy savings of between 30-50%. GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM Hire a green building expert who will be effective in coordinating a collaborative effort between City staff, building & design professionals, residents, and stakeholders. Create a green building advisory board made up of local building and design professionals, residents, realtors, stakeholders, community groups, and City staff. Louisville Green Building Program be a better than code program (i.e. Energy Star - 15% better) Design the program as an incentive-based program. Allow the program to be a voluntary program for at least one year. Require Conoco-Phillips to strictly follow the new 2009 IECC and/or the LEED New Construction model. Reach out to local building materials suppliers such as Lowe's and Home Depot and other businesses (contractors) to participate in the promotion of the program. City to request matching Stimulus block-grant funds, through the Governor's Energy Office and Boulder County. GREEN BUILDING WORKSHOP SERIES Transition Louisville is in the process of designing a residential green building workshop series to be coordinated with the 2009 Solar Week. The workshops will present practical information and guidance for home energy efficiency and green building, and will be available to homeowners, building owners, design professionals and building professionals, realtors, City officials, and City staff. The workshops will follow the Solar Homes Tour & Expo for Southeast Boulder County, co-sponsored by Transition Louisville and the Center for ReSource Conservation. The tour and expo will be held in downtown Louisville. Workshop format and flow may be as follows (workshop topic & locations, T.BD.): 1. Transition Louisville Overview (short 3-5 slide PowerPoint presentation) 2. City of Louisville Representative Endorsement of green building topic and description of how the City is addressing the topic being discussed. 3. Program du Jour (green building overview, insulation & air sealing, solar thermal, solar PV, geothermal, water conservation, xeriscaping, etc.) 4. Panel Discussion (homeowners that have "done it", contractors that "can do it with you", and supporting organizations that "can help you along") 5. Parting Materials (resources, guidance) 9