CGE PRESENTATION #1

We are very excited (more…)

Meet with candidates for wards 5-9 at the Library on March 19.  Doors open at 6:35.

Citizens for a Greener Evanston (CGE)

invites you to a presentation by

noted Evanston green architect Nate Kipnis

Evanston’s Climate Action Plan

Featuring

A Proposal for an Offshore Wind Farm

Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 6 – 8 PM

Firehouse Grill, 750 Chicago Ave., Evanston

(upstairs meeting room, cash bar, dining available)

·     Find out about our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 13% by 2012.

·     Hear more about ECAP, the blueprint created by the community and unanimously endorsed by the City Council, to help reach this goal.

·     Learn about the opportunities and obstacles associated with an offshore wind farm.

·     Learn about the Evanston Climate Action Fund – our own carbon offset-style program.

·     Check out Zerofootprint, Evanston’s own carbon calculator. www.zerofootprint.net/one_minute/evanston

Learn more about Citizens for a Greener Evanston at www.greenerevanston.org

Accessible via public transit – Main St. CTA Purple Line and Metra Stops –

                                        Looking for a ride?  Try GoLoco at www.goloco.org

The League of Women Voters of Evanston will be holding candidate forums for the mayoral, township assessor, and aldermanic races.  The Evanston Review will co-sponsor all the forums. As well as co-produce a Voter’s Guide for the April mayoral and aldermanic races. All forums will be filmed and broadcast by the Evanston Community Media Center.

Forum Dates

Mayor and Assessor forums:  Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m. at Northwestern University’s Norris Student Center, McCormick Auditorium.

Alderman forums:  Saturday, March 7 at the Evanston Civic Center

10-11 a.m.:  Wards 1, 4, 5

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p .m.  Wards 6, 7, 9

All candidates for uncontested races will be invited to meet with constituents at the scheduled forum locations. City Clerk and Township Supervisor: Sunday, March 1, before the start of the forum. Aldermen for Wards 2, 3, and 8: Saturday, March 7, 10-11:00.

For further information, write lwvevanston {at} att(.)net.

Click here to download PDF Green Building Ordinance hsc-memo-10-08

To: Human Services Committee
From: Evanston Environment Board
Re: Response to Questions at July 2008 Meeting

The Environment Board urges the Committee to think of green buildings as healthy buildings – healthy for the people who live and work in them and for the broader community. When considering the Environment Board’s proposed green building ordinance, please keep in mind that over 40% of the current greenhouse gas emissions in the country come from the use and operation of buildings. It is important for Evanston to act now to work toward achieving the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals outlined in the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement which was approved by the City Council in October of 2006 – two years ago. Goal 7 of that Agreement provides that the signatories will “[p]ractice and promote sustainable building practices using the U.S.  Green Building Council’s LEED program or a similar system”.

When we met in July several issues came up that you wanted the Environment Board to address. We were asked to review the draft downtown development plan and examine how it interfaced with the green building ordinance. We have reviewed the plan.  It recognizes the input of Evanston residents at the downtown development community meetings where residents consistently sought a commitment to green buildings. In this regard, it sets forth 8 major recommendations, number 5 of which states:

Development policies should establish standards that promote sustainability and environmentally responsible development. City policy should facilitate rehabilitation of existing structures. The City should use incentives to encourage new buildings meeting higher standards for efficient resource utilization, energy conservation and environmental protection.

Consistent with this recommendation, the draft plan in its zoning section, recommends floor area bonuses for various public benefit features, including whole-building sustainability (e.g. LEED Gold or Platinum). The bonus for LEED Gold is a 6% increase in FAR and for LEED Platinum, it is a 15% increase in FAR. The draft plan requires developers or owners seeking one of these bonuses to submit a binding letter of intent that communicates their commitment to achievement of the applicable sustainability level. In addition, a letter of credit or other city-approved financial guarantee is required to ensure ultimate compliance with the required sustainability level. The amount of the financial guarantee must be equal to the extra development and construction costs estimated by the City to be required to achieve the requested sustainability level, plus15%. Performance must be demonstrated through an independent report provided by the U.S. Green Building Council, the city or a city-approved alternate organization that confirms achievement of the required sustainability level. The penalty for failure to demonstrate performance with the required sustainability level is forfeiture of the financial guarantee. All penalties will go to a Green Building Fund dedicated to supporting market adoption of green building.

The bonus provisions of the draft downtown development plan are consistent with the encouragement of green building provided for in the draft ordinance. In fact, when we last met, we pointed out that the City might want to consider bonuses for green buildings but we would do so throughout the City, not just in the downtown area. The penalty monies collected under the draft downtown development plan could be put into the Sustainable Evanston Fund established by the green building ordinance. This fund has similar but broader objectives than those set forth in the Downtown Development Plan.  As noted in our earlier memorandum, originally the Environment Board’s draft green building ordinance also required a performance bond but the provision was changed to a penalty after our meeting with local developers. We are flexible as to the penalty but we want to ensure that green buildings are built so the penalty must be sufficient so that developers will not routinely pay it, as we understand has occurred with the affordable housing requirement.

We would also encourage consideration of lower building permit fee for LEED Gold or Platinum buildings and /or higher permit fees for non-LEED buildings. While we used the U.S. Green Building Council LEED standards in the draft green building ordinance, we would be amenable to providing for an alternate green building certification program, such as the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes building rating standards  suggested in Sustainability Coordinator Carolyn Collopy’s memorandum dated September 9, 2008.

You also asked us to review the draft Climate Action Plan. With regard to commercial buildings, the draft Plan recommends: 1) support for legislation or programs that require or provide incentives for existing buildings that achieve LEED-EB certifications and 2) support for legislation or programs that require or provide incentives for new construction that achieves, at a minimum, LEED Silver certification. For City buildings, it recommends support for legislation to require, at a minimum, LEED Silver certification for all City and City-funded new construction and major renovation projects.  Thus, the provisions in the draft Climate Action Plan are fully consistent with the Environment Board’s proposed green building ordinance. The only difference is that the draft green building ordinance requires the City to achieve LEED Gold. We are agreeable to changing that to LEED Silver and having the requirement apply only to city structures or city-financed structures that are over 10,000 square feet.

The Environment Board is asking you to act now on the green building ordinance to give impetus to the City’s environmental goals as set forth in the Strategic Plan and the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Adopting the Environment Board’sproposed green building ordinance would give meat to the goals of the Climate Protection Agreement objectives. We can’t afford to wait. This ordinance will be a significant step toward achieving our greenhouse gas reduction target.

Click here to download the PDF Green Building Ordinance Letter to Human Services Committee

TO:  Human Services Committee
FROM:  Evanston Environment Board
RE:  Green Building Ordinance
DATE:  June 12, 2008

PURPOSE
To establish a green building ordinance for the City of Evanston

BACKGROUND
The Environment Board is committed to assisting the City of Evanston mitigate the City’s contribution to global climate change. Since, on average, over 40 % of current greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from the use and operation of buildings, we feel that building use and construction must be part of any greenhouse gas emission mitigation strategy. At the suggestion of the Evanston Energy Future task force of the Network for Evanston’s Future, the Board began considering a green building ordinance for the City. We looked at what other cities around the country were doing to develop our proposal (a copy is attached). We took into consideration citizen input at the downtown planning meetings held in the summer of 2007. The Board also solicited input from the City’s Green Team and from various department heads, as well as facilities and community development staff.

In November 2007 the Board made a presentation to Julia Carroll, then the City Manager and a separate presentation to Assistant City Managers Judy Aiello and Rolanda Russell. Ms. Carroll suggested giving a wider presentation to City staff to gather additional ideas and then a presentation to developers who work in Evanston. Thereafter, in January 2008, the Board made the suggested presentation to City staff and on March 31, 2008, pursuant to written invitation, met with developers. Representatives from Northwestern University, Evanston Hospital and St. Francis Hospital were also invited to attend. The general consensus at both presentations was that the goals of energy efficiency and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards are here to stay.

As a result of the meeting with the developers, the draft green building ordinance was modified to eliminate the requirement of a performance bond to ensure compliance with LEED standards for covered buildings and, instead, a penalty provision for non-compliance was added, based substantially upon a Seattle ordinance. Some developers also suggested a 2% FAR ( increased floor space) as an incentive for buildings covered by the ordinance. This is a benefit which the City Council may want to consider. Another idea raised was whether permit fees should be raised for non-LEED buildings or lowered for LEED buildings. The City Council may want to consider lower fees for LEED buildings above the Silver level.

RECOMMENDATION
The Environment Board is enthusiastic about this proposed green building ordinance. We believe that we have consulted with all interested parties and have found substantial agreement with its goals. Its adoption should facilitate the City’s achievement of the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals outlined in the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which was signed by the Council in October of 2006. We urge that the green building ordinance be presented to the full Council. Thank you for your consideration.