HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/20/2024 - NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD - AGENDA - Regular Meeting
Natural Resources Advisory Board
REGULAR MEETING – March 20, 2024
Location: 215 N. Mason and via Zoom - https://fcgov.zoom.us/j/94115567733
6:00 CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
1. AGENDA REVIEW
2. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – FEBRUARY
4. NEW BUSINESS
6:10 – 7:00 Building Performance Standards
Katherine Bailey (Project Manager) will provide an overview of Building Performance Standards
(BPS) and ongoing policy development work, in advance of an April 23 City Council Work Session.
BPS are considered the most powerful and direct tool for driving improved performance in existing
buildings and are the most impactful direct policy action the City can take to reduce emissions by
2030 while addressing health, safety, comfort, resilience, and air quality in the built environment.
(Discussion)
7:00 – 7:30 Regional Wasteshed Update: Intergovernmental Agreement & Next Steps
Honore Depew (Climate Program Manager) will provide context and seek feedback for a March 26th
Councilmember Work Session to discuss approaches to regional collaboration supporting the
Council Priority to Accelerate Zero Waste Infrastructure and Policy, including a request from Larimer
County to suspend an Intergovernmental Agreement. (Discussion)
5. OTHER BUSINESS / UPDATES
• Board Member Reports
• NOTE: April NRAB Meeting Location Change – City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave.
• 2024 Super Issues Meetings of Fort Collins Boards and Commissions will be held at the
Lincoln Center. The dates are as follows:
Monday, March 25th (Columbine Room) - for boards and commissions to learn
about one another.
Monday, June 10th (Founder's Room)
Monday, September 9th (Founder's Room)
• In-person training for new board and commission members to take place in Council
Chambers on April 8th and April 22nd. Current members welcome to attend.
Required: Code of Conduct and Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy
• Six Month Calendar Review https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-calendar.php
• Revisit action items from previous meetings & preview of next meeting
City Websites with Updates:
• Natural Resources Advisory Board webpage: https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/natural-resources.php
• Our Climate Future: https://ourcity.fcgov.com/ourclimatefuture
6. ADJOURN
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2/21/2024 – MINUTES
Natural Resources Advisory Board
REGULAR MEETING
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 – 6:00 PM
222 Laporte and Via Zoom
1. CALL TO ORDER: 6:02 PM
2. ROLL CALL
a. Board Members Present –
• Dawson Metcalf (Chair)
• Kelly Stewart (Vice Chair)
• Barry Noon
• Danielle Buttke
• Matt Zoccali
b. Board Members Absent –
• Lisa Andrews
c. Staff Members Present –
• Honoré Depew, Staff Liaison
• Amy King, Environmental Services Department Director
d. Guest(s) –
• Xavier (no last name given)
3. AGENDA REVIEW
Chair Metcalf reviewed the agenda.
4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Xavier (no last name given) introduced himself and commented on his work for a
company that specializes in decarbonization. He mentioned he’d like to learn more
about Fort Collins’ climate efforts and determine how he could involve his art in
educational efforts.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (December and January)
Noon commended the minutes format change.
Chair Metcalf made a motion to approve the December and January minutes as
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2/21/2024 – MINUTES
written. Buttke seconded the motion. The motion was adopted unanimously.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Introduce Sustainability Services Leadership – Jacob Castillo (City of Fort
Collins Sustainability Officer) and Amy King (Environmental Services
Department Director) will join the Board to introduce themselves and discuss
2024-25 City Council Priorities that pertain to the Sustainability Services Area
as well as the Environmental Services Department restructuring, previewed
last month. (Discussion)
Chair Metcalf noted Jacob Castillo had a scheduling issue and could not be
present.
Board members introduced themselves and discussed their backgrounds and
interests related to the Board’s work.
Amy King, Environmental Sustainability Director, introduced herself and
discussed her history and prior work experience.
Depew outlined the goals for the discussion of this item.
Buttke commented on the possibility of a retreat and on Board members being
resources for staff on specific projects. She questioned what tools and
resources might best facilitate that cross-over work and mentioned the
importance of making staff and Council aware of the skills and strengths of
Board members.
Members discussed the ways in which staff engages Boards and how that
process could be improved. King noted conversations have been occurring
about how to be more strategic with Boards. She also noted Councilmember
Kelly Ohlson is the Council liaison for AQAB and this Board.
Depew commented on the possibility of a joint meeting with the AQAB,
potentially in May after new Board members have been seated.
King commended Fort Collins’ early organization of the sustainability umbrella
under the triple bottom-line concept and discussed the way in which Council is
structuring its priorities.
Buttke noted everything is tied to climate change and questioned how Boards
should strategically think about the issues they tackle and how they can be
aware of issues that may be falling between the cracks. King replied she is
still learning about the exact purview of the Boards and how they have
evolved; however, she noted Sustainability Services as a whole is very
focused on the Our Climate Future plan. She noted it is the job of staff to
ensure the dots are connected between the Boards.
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2/21/2024 – MINUTES
Zoccali asked if the March 25th Super Issues meeting involving all Boards and
Commissions is new. Depew replied in the affirmative and stated it is
strategically intentional on the part of the City Clerk’s Office.
Chair Metcalf commented on the difficulty in determining whether existing
programs are addressing new Council priorities. He asked how staff is able to
track items that started as initiatives and became programs. King replied the
recent Council priorities planning session was facilitated to ensure priorities
were strategic and fewer in number.
Depew further detailed the priority setting exercise and discussed how staff
was involved in an iterative feedback loop with Council related to programs
and staff work. He discussed the Council priorities related to solid waste
management and the reduction of climate pollution and air pollution through
electrification.
King commented on Sustainability Services becoming more strategic about its
work and noted construction demolition and recycling staff are shifting to
Community Development and Neighborhood Services.
Members and staff discussed the timeline for Council adoption of its priorities.
King discussed the wording of the priorities and commented on how assigned
staff or groups for each priority have become more collaborative.
Depew discussed solid waste management, particularly the future of
composting in the community.
Noon asked if the City keeps track of NGO’s and commented specifically on
Vindeket Foods which takes expired foods from grocery stores and makes it
freely available to those in need. He suggested the City should be
encouraging these types of efforts that aid in keeping food waste out of the
landfill. Depew replied the City attempts to keep close connections and
partnerships with non-profits and other organizations. He noted there is some
complexity in terms of leveraging City systems and processes to incentivize
those programs; however, grant programs are the main way in which the City
is involved.
Zoccali asked how the new initiative, NOCOBiz Connect, which was the
Climate Wise Business Program, layers into the priorities. Depew replied the
program developed a contract and did a request for proposals which resulted
in the hiring of an outside firm to implement the business support system and
program. King noted there was a strong representation of Latino business
owners at the NOCOBiz Connect launch.
(*Secretary’s Note: The Board took a brief recess at this point in the meeting.)
Buttke commented on the push for electrification and stated having programs
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available for a longer period of time might increase adoption rates. Depew
replied the Energy Services department in Utilities would be a good reference
for that information and that department’s manager is one of the co-leads for
the Our Climate Future team.
Depew noted over 65% of the community’s emissions are associated with
buildings and another 25% are associated with vehicles. Additionally, the
small engine category crosses between climate emissions and air pollution.
He stated there are current City programs to help advance all three of those
areas, including building performance standards for building energy and water
scoring, vehicular conversion to electric and ensuring charging infrastructure is
available, and conversion of lawn and garden equipment and small utility
vehicles to electric. Depew stated Sustainability Services gets more involved
with community-facing efforts such as policy development, incentives, and
regulations.
Noon asked if the source of the electrification is specified to be from
renewables given that the idea is to reduce CO2 emissions. Depew replied
that is a baseline assumption in the projections (and the majority of projected
reduction in community emissions) is specifically the continued conversion
from fossil fuel sources to renewable sources in the electric grid.
Buttke asked if new methane regulations and/or monitoring of methane leaks
is part of that given the low number of gas wells in Fort Collins. Depew replied
there are some new things around methane monitoring and other air quality
monitoring using satellite technology to detect leaks. He noted one of the
Council priority areas includes existing oil and gas wells and their negative
health and environmental impacts.
Zoccali asked about the inclusion of alternative fuel vehicles. Depew replied
the department recently supported some analysis with Operations Services
colleagues who make decisions around fleet conversion and it was found that
compressed natural gas did not have an overall net positive as it was more
expensive for the City and did not help accelerate environmental gains.
Depew commented on a new grant given to the Innosphere from the National
Science Foundation. He noted the grant will help provide the opportunity to
help define northern Colorado and southern Wyoming as a climate solutions
hub, in collaboration with the City, CSU and many other partners. He
suggested there may be an opportunity for the Board to spend some time
discussing this new initiative, especially as the grant proposal includes
partnerships with oil and gas companies and defense contractors.
b. 2024 Proposed Our Climate Future Budget – Honoré Depew (Climate
Program Manager) will review the 2024 proposed Our Climate Future (OCF)
budget items to be considered for funding by City Council from new 2050 tax
revenue dedicated to reduce climate pollution. (Discussion)
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Depew noted Council has yet to consider the budget items proposed to be
funded by the 2050 Tax and stated these first items will be considered
separately from the overall budget process.
Depew stated fifteen projects were identified by the leadership team with a
total cost of about $3.5 million in proposed investments this year. He outlined
the ballot language that was approved by voters which included programs and
projects advancing greenhouse gas and air pollution reduction to meet the
City’s adopted goals for 100% renewable electricity and carbon neutrality by
2050. He noted the challenge lies in how to create a clear understanding of
the way that a diversity of climate interventions can ultimately help get at the
goals even if there isn’t a directly quantifiable greenhouse gas mitigation
impact in the short term.
Depew discussed the process that was undertaken to get to the
recommended list of budget offers, including specific criteria which included
the use of the “MRE nexus” (which looks at mitigation, resilience and equity
impacts). He stated the projects identified were not brand new but were
already in process and could be scaled and accelerated and it was ensured
the funds could be used this year.
Noon stated he is in agreement with the broad objectives but questioned why
the word ‘monitoring’ is seldom explicitly mentioned. He questioned what will
be measured to evaluate whether the goals have been achieved. Depew
discussed a recent conversation at the leadership level for the Sustainability
Service Area around evaluation and how to better build that into project
development and how to be more consistent with reporting. He stated there
are some extensive processes in place for monitoring and reporting on
progress around new investments in the organization and noted the
department is expected to report in a modest amount of detail on progress
made qualitatively and quantitatively at least quarterly, though that could be
more robust, and a better job could be done with dashboards.
Noon stated the term ‘resilience’ is quite common in ecological literature,
though it has very specific interpretations of how it is used. He stated
resilience has an upfront component called resistance, which is not used as
commonly and is related to how much stress a system can sustain before it
undergoes a significant state change. He stated resilience is conditioned on a
state change in terms of how long it takes a system to recover. He stated all
of those things require designating measurable quantitative state variables.
He suggested the possibility of using existing or new staff members who
understand selecting and estimating monitoring state variables and how to fit
trend models to the data.
Depew commented on the balance or interplay between direct environmental
impacts and the monitoring of things like river health or species biodiversity
and the human element and measuring improvements to things like social
health or the adoption of new behaviors.
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2/21/2024 – MINUTES
Noon stated a monitoring program by itself reveals nothing about causation,
but if the monitoring program is accompanied by co-variants, inference to
causation can be allowed. He noted there are experts in the field at CSU.
King commented on the recent efforts to focus on connectivity with experts in
the community and on leveraging those relationships.
Buttke commented on adaptation versus resilience and on ensuring
monitoring programs are evaluation programs to address ‘what if adaptation
did not occur.’
Depew suggested the evaluation policy could be a topic for a future meeting.
He went on to detail the criteria that were used to develop the list of short-term
budget offers for projects. He outlined the actual offers themselves and
discussed how they align with Council’s identified priorities.
Zoccali stated many of the items appear to be good one-time items; however,
he questioned whether expanding the scholarship program should be ongoing.
Depew replied that item was framed as possible to be executed in 2024 and
continue for future years if funds are available to help bolster the program.
Depew stated these items will go before Council in April or May.
Zoccali asked if the Board always goes line by line in terms of evaluating the
regular budget as it did during the last cycle. Buttke replied that was the first
time the Board did such an in-depth evaluation, and the exercise was seen as
a way for the Board to be more proactive.
Depew noted the Budget Office is indicating to staff that expectations about
new enhancements and new budget proposals should be tempered which
makes the opportunity to leverage the 2050 Tax revenue source all the more
important.
Depew showed the poster made by Chair Metcalf for the Super Issues
meeting outlining the Board’s duties and responsibilities.
Zoccali asked about quasi-judicial Commissions at the Super Issues meeting.
Depew replied they will likely display the same types of information as
indicated on Chair Metcalf’s poster.
7. OTHER BUSINESS
• Board Member Reports
Chair Metcalf reported that Kestrel Fields Natural Area opened off Vine and
Overland and it contains a farming area for conservation agriculture.
• NOTE: March – May NRAB Meetings Location Change – City Hall, 300 Laporte
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2/21/2024 – MINUTES
Avenue
Depew noted the May meeting could be held jointly with AQAB.
• 2024 Super Issues Meetings of Fort Collins Boards and Commissions will be held at
the Lincoln Center. The dates are as follows:
Monday, March 25 (Columbine Room)
Monday, June 10 (Founder’s Room)
Monday, September 9 (Founder’s Room)
March 25 meeting will be dedicated for Boards and Commissions to learn
about each other. Request from City Clerk’s Office to have several members
of the NRAB present.
• In-person training for new Board and Commission members to take place in Council
Chambers on April 8th and April 22nd. Current members welcome to attend.
Topics will include the Code of Conduct and the Anti-Discrimination and Anti-
Harassment Policy.
• Six Month Calendar Review https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-calendar.php
Depew reviewed Council’s Six Month Calendar and noted Council will be
considering the Strategic Plan, adopting priorities, and a regional wasteshed
update, during the next six months. He noted the Board could weigh in on
the wasteshed topic at its March meeting prior to Council’s work session on
the topic.
Noon noted the Thornton pipeline 1041 regulations are again being
considered by the County Commissioners. He also noted the County’s
Environmental Advisory Board was precluded from making any comments on
the 1041 decision. He stated if the County approves the project, then 1041
has to again become an issue for the City due to the location of the pipeline
through the city. Additionally, he stated Save the Poudre has sued the Army
Corps of Engineers for approving the project.
Noon proposed recycling a memo written by the Board a few years ago
related to buying water rights to remove the Poudre River’s low diversion
dam above the railroad bridge and create a river trail from the Shields river
access through the whitewater park. He stated Northern Water will
contemplate buying those water rights if the City does not.
Depew highlighted other items on the Six Month Planning Calendar,
including the urban forest strategic plan, impact fees, water supply
requirements, the 2024 appropriation of the 2050 tax, CCIP renewal, and
building performance standards. He stated he will check with the building
performance standards project team to see what sort of Board engagement
would be most timely as there will be a series of discussions.
• Revisit action items from previous meetings & preview of next meeting
Depew noted there is a running list of potential topics for 2024 meetings and
he has added 1041 regulations and the memo mentioned by Noon to that
list.
Depew stated staff from FC Moves will be attending the March meeting and
suggested also discussing the regional wasteshed at that meeting.
Members discussed the possibility of discussing building performance
standards rather than transportation issues at the next meeting.
Buttke asked if the Board will have a liaison for the new Active Modes
Advisory Board. Depew replied the liaison model is not being continued as it
is now an official Board.
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2/21/2024 – MINUTES
City Websites with Updates:
• Natural Resources Advisory Board webpage: https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/natural-
resources.php
• Our Climate Future: https://ourcity.fcgov.com/ourclimatefuture
8. ADJOURNMENT
a. 8:26 pm
Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on XX/XX/XX
Headline Copy Goes Here
Energy Services Program Manager
Katherine Bailey
Building
Performance
Standards (BPS)
3.20.24
Headline Copy Goes Here
2
Building Performance Standards (BPS)
Buildings account for over 2/3 of our local GHG emissions
Our Climate Future (OCF) Plan is a framework and set of implementation
strategies to address climate and energy while improving community equity and
resilience outcomes.
•Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 2005 baseline levels by 2030
Emissions
Avoided vs 2005
Pathway Group
2030
Electricity 27.10%
Buildings 16.70%
•Direct 8.90%
(BEWS, BPS)
•Incentive 7.80%
Transportation 4.40%
Industry 4.10%
Waste 1.60%
Land Use 0.10%
Emissions
Avoided vs 2005
Pathway Group
2030
Electricity 27.10%
Buildings 16.70%
•Performance 16.10%
•Construction 0.30%
•Electrification 0.30%
Transportation 4.40%
Industry 4.10%
Waste 1.60%
Land Use 0.10%
Headline Copy Goes Here
•BPS is by far the most impactful direct policy action the City can take to reduce
emissions by 2030
•BPS has a much higher impact on natural gas than other FCU programs
•The impact of BPS by 2030 is projected to be just under that of all other efficiency
programs combined
Building Performance Standards
Big Move 6:
Explore Building Performance Standards
LIVE BETTER
3
Headline Copy Goes Here
4
Why BPS?
Disproportionately impacted communities benefit from BPS
•BPS in Equity
Local Benefits:
•Health
•Safety
•Comfort
•Resilience
•Reduced energy burden
•Economic growth
•Increased competitiveness
•Higher building occupancy & tenant retention
•Increased productivity of occupants
•Mitigate utility impacts of rising temperatures
•Improved indoor and outdoor air quality
Headline Copy Goes Here 5City Council OCF Action Roadmap
*indicates a change or addition from 2022 OCF Council Roadmap
2024 202620252023
•Adopt Land Use Workstream 1*
•Sustainable Revenue -
Franchise Fee*
•Adopt Building Performance
Standards
•Develop energy code step
towards net-zero carbon
•Adopt Water Efficiency Plan*
•Start contracted residential
waste service including yard
trimmings
•Allocate initial 2050 Tax funds
for climate and transit*
•Start Building
Performance
Standards
•Start West
Elizabeth Bus
Rapid Transit
•Start home
energy listing
requirements
•Start
commercial/
industrial
policy for yard
trimmings*
•Develop Building
Performance
Standards
•Develop home
energy listing
requirements
•Adopt Economic
Health Strategic
Plan (including
Circular
Economy)*
•Adopt Energy
Code
•Adopt home
listing
requirements
•Adopt
commercial/
industrial policy
for yard
trimmings*
•Adopt Land Use
Workstream 2*
Headline Copy Goes Here
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•A BPS requires buildings to meet carbon
or energy performance targets by
specific deadlines.
•Can include multiple standards, allowing for
flexibility while increasing performance for a
different aspect of a building.
•Targets become stricter over time,
driving continuous, long-term improvement in
the building stock
Building Performance Standards drive gradual efficiency improvements in existing building stock
Building Performance Standards (BPS)
•What are BPS?
Headline Copy Goes Here
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Executive Order
Federal Building Performance Standard:
net-zero emissions by 2045; 50 percent
reduction in building emissions by 2032.
The State of Colorado introduced BPS
Buildings greater than 50K SF: GHG
reduction of 7% by 2026 and 20% by 2030.
Mayor’s Pledge
The City of Fort Collins joined a national
coalition of mayors and governors to commit
to adopting local building performance
standards by Earth Day, 2024 Building performance standards are the most powerful
policy tool available to drive improved building performance
BPS in Practice at State and Federal Level
Building Performance Standards have been implemented at the local, State and Federal level
Headline Copy Goes Here
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BPS Development Contributors: Planning to Adoption
O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M
Internal
Stakeholders
Task Force
Technical
Committee
Equity
Engagement
Broad
Community
Engagement
Targets 2027, 2030
2022 2023 2024
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Task Force and Technical Committee Recommendations
•Covered Buildings
•5,000ft2 + multifamily (MF) and
commercial
•Buildings 5,000ft2 -10,000ft2 with
more attainable targets and
timelines
•Efficiency Targets
•Energy Use Intensity (EUI)
•Maximum flexibility
•Resources and off-ramps
•Education, technical, financial
•Adjustments
•Additional assistance provided to
under-resourced buildings
Task Force recommendations are published at ourcity.fcgov.com/BPS
Headline Copy Goes Here
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Discussion
Final questions and thoughts
Headline Copy Goes Here
For Questions on BPS:
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Kbailey@fcgov.com
970-221-6818
Program Manager, Energy Services
Katherine Bailey