Urban Design
Green Building
Optimize building environmental performance by adding additional green building requirements.
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The Green Building Ordinance (GBO), adopted in May 2008, extends green construction requirements to all building types in Santa Monica. The requirements primarily apply to newly constructed buildings as well as substantial remodels.
The GBO establishes requirements in four areas of building performance: energy efficiency, green construction materials, landscape water conservation, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling. Given the history of green construction requirements in Santa Monica, it was not difficult to get buy in from the building community for updated requirements, however several challenges have arisen internally in the plan check and building permit issuance processes. The new requirements for landscaping and irrigation plan submittal, as well as the expanded applicability to single family buildings required modifications to the City’s existing administrative process. To address these challenges during the transition to the new requirements, the City increased outreach efforts and internal education and training to the architect/builder/contractor community.
Green building policies are very useful tools because they address tangible environmental impacts, such as energy usage, urban runoff, and indoor air quality. These policies have a positive impact on a range of stakeholders – including developers, government officials, homeowners, and workers.
Advantages to green building requirements include:
• They are less expensive to own and operate
• Implementation leads to reduced natural resource use
• They prove to be healthier, as they are associated with higher student test scores, higher worker productivity, and faster recovery of hospital patients.
• Strategies feasible for little to no extra cost: green doesn’t cost more, doing things differently costs more – in the short term. But the status quo is going to cost us all a lot more as energy prices increase, water supplies decrease, and population grows rapidly.
A case study exemplifying the improved green standards is the Colorado Court single resident occupancy, 30,150 square foot housing that upon completion will be 100% energy independent – one of the nation’s first. Natural gas powered turbine/heat recovery and solar photovoltaic systems are examples of what distinguishes this [part-City funded] project as a leader in incorporating energy efficient measures. The systems will pay for themselves in ten years with annual savings of $600 dollars from natural gas and electricity bills.
There will be some increased staff time to review mandatory measures, but this can be recouped through permit fees. Because there is an existing development process to follow, these costs can be minimized. There will also be costs for outreach and education, as well as internal training of plan checkers and building inspectors.
To adopt amendments to the California Building Code, a local jurisdiction must make local findings, usually via a Resolution. These local findings must be based on climatic, geologic, or topographical conditions and must justify why the amendments are necessary. There is no review or approval of the quality of local findings, but they must be filed with the Building Standards Commission (this may be open to suit by another party).
The State has developed its own green building code, but has expressed its intention that the state code would not usurp the authority of local jurisdictions to create their own, more stringent standards. There is legislation planned (or in process) that would modify the requirement for “local findings” to allow local amendments as part of a green building program.
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