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Building Department -
FAQs
I’ve
been asked to develop a green building program for my
jurisdiction. Where do I begin? The good
news is there are many resources available to help
communities develop voluntary and mandatory green
building programs. The CALBO Green Building web page is
an excellent place to start. You can find good
information here, or at the very least, there are links
that will direct you to other sites that can be of
assistance. In the “Resources” section, there are
several documents you may download that provide detailed
information for developing green building programs and
ordinances. Additionally, CALBO will be maintaining an
up-to-date list of communities that have developed, or
are intending to develop, green building programs in
California.
I see
there are lots of green building rating systems out
there. How do I know which one(s) will be best for my
community? Or, would we be better off developing our own
rating system to suit our specific
needs? There are a number of excellent green
building rating systems that have been developed across
the country. Some are focused on residential
construction, while others address non-residential green
building. There is no need to “reinvent the wheel.”
When developing the plan for your green building
program, it’s important to think about how to make your
program as effective as possible. One way to do this is
to research what other jurisdictions have done in your
area. (See the list of community green building programs
in the “Resources” section of this web site.) By
incorporating features of neighboring programs into
yours, you’ll be contributing to regional consistency.
This consistency may take the form of how the
program/ordinance is structured, what green building
rating systems are being used, the way the program is
implemented, or any combination of these. Regional
consistency not only provides communities with
opportunities to work together, but will make it easier
for builders to incorporate green building features into
their business practices since what they learn to do for
one community they can apply in another.
Where
can I get training to learn about green
building? There are a variety of
instructional sources currently available and more are
being developed. Listed below are some of the
educational opportunities that are pertinent to green
building in California.
- Build It Green offers a Certified
Green Building Professional program along with their
GreenPoint Rater program. Build It Green will provide
local training for local governments as well as the
general community.
- CALBO offers a full-day green
building class at the annual Education Weeks in
Concord and Ontario. This is a Green Building 101
course that provides a general overview of green
building along with how green building relates to the
building code. You will also learn the basics about
developing green building programs and
ordinances.
- California Green Builder offers
training to city and county officials as well as
builders and builder associations. Training can be
specific to the California Green Builder Program or
more general in nature.
- ConSol has been providing builders
and city officials Energy Code training since 1995.
ConSol is also a member of the D.O.E. Build America
program which focuses on researching new building
technologies. ConSol’s training can be tailored to
your specific needs.
- The International Code Council is
developing a series of green building classes.
- PGE’s Pacific Energy Center in San
Francisco and the Energy Training Center in Stockton
offer free training related mostly to energy issues,
but are expanding their class offerings to include
green building.
- The Solar Living Institute in Hopland
offers weekend courses on a wide variety of green
building and sustainable topics.
- Sonoma State University in Rohnert
Park (45 miles north of San Francisco) offers a
Professional Green Building Certificate program. This
course requires attendance one Saturday a month for 12
months. There are a limited number of seats available
for online students.
- The U.S. Green Building Council offers a
number of workshops related to their LEED® rating
systems.
- University of California at Davis
offers a certificate program in Green Building and
Sustainable Design.
I
hear a great deal of discussion as to whether to
implement a “voluntary” program or a mandatory
ordinance. Can you provide any insight on this
issue? Whether to establish a voluntary or
mandatory program depends on many factors. What has been
directed by your city council or board of supervisors?
What would the general community like to see? What kind
of green building support services are available in your
area? Are there designers who know how to incorporate
green building into their designs? Are there green
building consultants available to provide knowledge and
expertise? Do local building material suppliers have
green building products available for resale? Putting a
mandatory ordinance in place without the necessary
available support structure could undermine efforts to
promulgate green building in your community. Some
communities start with voluntary programs and then
convert to mandatory regulations once the building
community has had a chance to get educated. Others will
start with a mandatory ordinance, but then set their
compliance threshold levels low enough that it acts like
a voluntary program. Compliance this holds could then be
adjusted accordingly depending on how the market will
react and what level of compliance elected officials
will desire.
Whatever you do, it’s important to remember that
effective green building programs, be they mandatory or
voluntary, are sensitive to local and regional economies
and work best when the public-private partnership is in
balance. Government can “nudge” the private sector in
the direction of green building and provide the impetus
to develop green markets. At the same time, builders
need to understand that green building is the wave of
the future and they should work on re-tooling their
business practices to incorporate green building into
their everyday operations.
Can
cities adopt a mandatory policy requiring green building
for civic/public buildings? Yes, cities may
restrict their own practices and mandate that they
themselves operate under more restrictive building
standards than those imposed by state law, as long as
those practices do not contradict the building code.
What
are some of the legal considerations when developing a
green building program/ordinance? If your
program is voluntary, there isn’t much to worry about on
the legal side of things. Because it’s voluntary in
nature, builders and property owners are participating
on their own volition. With a voluntary program, there
are no legal requirements.
Mandatory approaches, on the other hand, require
careful consideration of the legal regulations at play
not only at the local level, but especially at the State
level. Because we enforce the California Building
Standards Code, there are specific procedures that must
be followed when making modifications to the State Code
at the local level. Building officials in California are
familiar with this process.
Since energy efficiency is a big part of green
building, the California Building Energy Efficiency
Standards are routinely made more stringent in order to
comply with local green building requirements.
Unfortunately, as of September 2007, only eight
jurisdictions in California have gone through the proper
procedures, which include filing an application with the
California Energy Commission to amend the State Energy
Code at the local level. Setting up a mandatory
ordinance that is legally correct and defensible, is the
most important consideration when looking to adopt local
green building regulations. You will need to spend time
with your legal counsel to ensure that the ordinance you
propose doesn’t conflict with State law or other local
ordinances. See the “Resources” section for more
detailed information on legal considerations that apply
to adoption of local green building ordinances.
If I
decide to develop a green building ordinance, does it
belong in the local zoning ordinance, or the local
building code? It all depends. As mentioned
above, any local modifications to the State Building
Code have to follow prescribed procedures established by
State law. However, many green building measures found
in a variety of green building rating systems are not
considered “building standards” as defined in the CA
Health and Safety Code. For instance, construction
debris diversion and the use of drought-tolerant plants
are included in the list of measures found in most of
the green building programs, but there is no need to
modify the State Building Code because they are not
building standards. Measures such as these can be
considered for placement into the local zoning ordinance
because they can be considered land use issues.
On the other hand, modifying the CA Energy Code
clearly is a modification of a building standard, which
is not a land use concern. There are some requirements
that don’t fall into either camp. For instance,
establishing areas for recycling within a dwelling unit
isn’t a land use issue and it isn’t a building standard
that is subject to the requirements for local building
code amendments. Where does this fall?
Some communities have decided that green building
doesn’t fit well into either category and have set up
green building requirements within independent titles of
their respective municipal codes. One city has
established a new “Sustainability” title in their local
municipal code. Within that title are a Green Building
Ordinance and an Energy Efficiency Ordinance. Other
sustainability issues such as solar access, construction
and demolition debris, and water conservation will
eventually be included. Because of the issues related to
global climate change and the recent decisions by the
State Attorney General for local governments to address
climate change in their General Plans, this approach
could be a good one to support these concerns.
I
understand the State is developing green building
standards. Shouldn’t I just wait and see what they come
up with before starting something in my own
community? There are a number of things
going on in the legislature as well as at the Building
Standards Commission. While it is too early to tell what
the final outcome will be, it is clear that the State
is, and will be, raising the bar for green building in
California. In all likelihood, whatever is produced at
the State level will complement what many local
communities have already started. It’s never too soon to
start getting a green building program going in your
community. Work started now will only make for an easier
transition in the future.
What
is “green washing” and how can I avoid being labeled as
such? “Green washing” is a term used not
only in green building circles, but anytime someone is
presenting something as “green” when in fact it is not.
For example, just because someone claims to be a “green”
builder because he/she says so, doesn’t necessarily mean
it’s true. There are a few ways to ensure that your
green building program is recognized as green. First,
it’s important to use or reference established green
rating systems that are accepted by the industry as
being green. While there are two green building
standards currently being developed through the ANSI and
ASHRAE standard development process, many of the
mainstream green building rating systems, such as LEED®,
offer credible means to verify that buildings are truly
green. Third party verification is one means of
confirming that projects in your program are green.
What
is the difference between green building program
“development” and
“implementation”? Developing a program has
to do with organizing the structure by which all the
rules and regulations are established. In the case of a
mandatory program, this would be an ordinance. It will
spell out what projects are covered by the regulations
and which ones are exempt. It will specify which rating
systems to use and what compliance threshold levels that
must be attained. Enforcement mechanisms and penalties
will be spelled out. Once the program has been defined
and setup, it is now time to “implement” the program.
Implementation is the act of carrying out the
program. Implementation will include developing
procedures for taking applications, creating forms,
training staff and the public, providing handout
materials, hiring additional staff (if necessary), and
simply taking care of the myriad of details that will
need to be addressed in order to make your program
successful. Be aware that many programs have suffered
because there was not enough attention paid to
developing a sound implementation plan.
We
have no funds for a Green Building program. How are
other communities dealing with this
issue? There is no free lunch. One way or
another, there needs to be a way to pay for a green
building program, whether it’s voluntary or mandatory.
However, there are ways to coordinate resources and
share the responsibility of financing this endeavor.
For those communities that have mandatory programs,
there will need to be plan check and inspection staff to
verify compliance. Some cities are increasing their fees
to cover this aspect of the program. Some building
departments are treating green building as a “special
inspection” measure. In this case, the owner would pay
for green building inspection just as they would pay for
any other special inspector.
Alternatively, for an existing verfication program,
such as Build It Green's Green Point rating is required,
verification would be performed by a third-party rater.
This approach relieves city staff of the extra work
associated with documenting and CB verifying
measures.
Green building provides benefits to other city/county
departments that have resources to contribute. For
instance, waste management agencies can reduce their
overhead costs when builders divert large portions of
their construction debris. Some waste management
agencies have provided financial assistance to help with
developing green building programs.
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