Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No. 2014-09:  A resolution of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Flagstaff, Arizona, requiring that the City incorporate sustainable building practices into the design, construction, and operation of all City-owned facilities and repealing Resolution No. 2008-32, which required all new City buildings to be constructed using the U.S. Green Building Council-sponsored principles of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) (For the purpose of providing more sustainable building options to the City) 

In 2008 the City Council adopted Resolution 2008-32, a Resolution requiring that all new occupied City buildings be constructed using the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) Silver certification requirements.  At the time Resolution 2008-32 was adopted there were few nationally recognized sustainable building certification programs.  Resolution 2014-09 provides more options to the City in consideration of its diverse building needs (i.e. administrative, recreational, maintenance, emergency response, and legal). 

The financial impact of Resolution 2014-09 will be project specific. More information is included on the next page under Expanded Financial Impact.

Effective governance

Option A – Adopt Resolution No. 2014-09 as submitted;
Option B – Amend  Resolution No. 2014-09;
Option C  - Not adopt Resolution No. 2014-09.

In 2008 there were few nationally recognized sustainable building certification programs.  As a result the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) program has dominated the United States’ certification industry for more than a decade.  Since its launch more than 54,000 projects have been certified through LEED.
 
In recent years additional building certification programs have been recognized.  Green Globes is one such program that has gained traction in the industry.  Green Globes shares many similarities to LEED but differs in that it does not have minimum requirements or penalization for inapplicable credits and is considered more streamlined by some industry reports. In 2012 the U.S. General Services Administration ("GSA") reexamined its LEED Gold certification requirement for Federal projects. As a result, GSA incorporated Green Globes in addition to LEED as acceptable certification programs for their mandatory requirements.  The Living Building Challenge is another such program that requires advanced design and performance measures.  In contrast the ASHRAE Standard 189.1 is not a rating system and is a compliance option to the International Green Construction Code published by the International Code Council and cooperating sponsors, including the American Institute of Architects and American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”) International.

Program	LEED	Green Globes	Living Building Challenge	ASHRAE
Release/Current version	2000/4.0	2005/2013	2006	2011/189.1
Categories	Site Water Energy/Atmosphere Innovation Materials/Resources Indoor EQ Location/Transit Regional Priority	Management Site Energy Water Materials Emissions Indoor Environment	Site Water Energy Health Materials Equity Beauty	Site Energy Water Materials Emissions Indoor Environment
Rating scale	Certified Silver Gold Platinum	1 Globe 2 Globes 3 Globes 4 Globes	Full certification Petal recognition Net zero energy	No scale, must meet all code standards

Projects meeting the requirements of sustainable building certification programs are designed to have lower operating costs by efficiently managing energy, water, and waste.  In addition projects will have an increased asset value.  Depending on the building type, a project will likely incur additional soft (design and modeling) and hard (construction) costs for measures that perform beyond the City’s current building codes. Research demonstrates that certification project costs range from as little as $0.10 per square foot (sf) to $1.00/sf. Though most projects begin with a focus on cost savings, many building owners report equal value in payback measures and in operating and maintaining their facilities to a higher level of performance. 
 
Recommended certification programs include the most recent versions of LEED (Silver), Green Globes (3 Globes), or Living Building Challenge (Petal recognition). Section 2 of the Resolution proposes if City staff determines compliance with certification standards cost prohibitive (defined as a payback period of more than eight years) staff will recommend American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (“ASHRAE”) High-Performance Building Standards (“H.P.B.”) for the project. Research demonstrates an estimated 1 – 2.8% increase to overall project costs for the ASHRAE standards.
 
Based on industry research, the following is an example of estimated certification and soft costs (design and modeling) for a 25,000 square foot facility:

Organization	U.S. Green Building Council	Green Building Institute	International Living Future Institute	ASHRAE
Program	LEED	Green Globes	Living Building Challenge	H. P. B.  Standards
Estimated cost for 25,000 sf building	Top of Form Certification fee and soft costs = $20,950 - $33,450  Bottom of Form	Certification fee and soft costs = $14,500 - $20,500	Top of Form Certification fee = $8,400  Bottom of Form	No certification fee

Incorporating sustainable building practices can yield savings for the City by efficiently managing energy, water, waste and stormwater, while improving the employee and visitor experience. 

Inform and consult. On February 12, 2014 the Sustainability Commission reviewed proposed Resolution 2014-09 and voted unanimously in support of it.

Option A – Adopt Resolution No. 2014-09 as submitted;
Option B – Amend Resolution No.  2014-09;
Option C – Not Adopt Resolution No. 2014-09.