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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/05/2006 - RESOLUTION 2006-096 ESTABLISHING A ''LEADERSHIP IN ITEM NUMBER: 21 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: September 5, 2006 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Ken Marmon Greg Byrne Lucinda Smith SUBJECT Resolution 2006-096 Establishing a "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" Green Building Certification Goal for New Municipal Buildings. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. FINANCIAL IMPACT LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the U.S. Green Building Council's green building rating system. The latest research affirms that incremental costs to build LEED- certified buildings are minimal compared to long term utility savings, employee productivity gains, and environmental performance. A 2003 study commissioned by California's Sustainable Building Task Force that looked at the life cycle costs of 33 green buildings in 12 states concluded that, "a minimal up-front investment of about two percent of construction costs typically yields life cycle savings of over ten times the initial investment". Specifically, the study found the incremental cost of meeting the LEED "Gold" certification standard was 1.82%above conventional design for the same buildings,and the financial benefit for LEED Gold and Platinum buildings, over a twenty year building life cycle, was about twenty times higher. For example,if the average conventional construction cost is$200/square foot, a 2%premium is equivalent to $4/square foot. The study found the 20 year Net Present Value of a LEED-NC(the certification for new commercial construction and major renovation projects)Gold or Platinum building was $75/square foot; twenty times higher than the original $4/square foot investment. (See Attachment 1 for more information). Experience across the country has shown that the incremental costs associated with achieving LEED decreases when 1)the commitment to achieve LEED is made at the project outset and 2)the design team is experienced with LEED. The tracking, documentation and extra design costs associated with LEED can be offset by the resultant quality of design that downsizes or eliminates typical building systems and enhances operational efficiency. There are two projects on the City's facilities planning horizon that would be affected by this resolution; the new Museum/Discovery Center, for which staff anticipates beginning the design process in 2007,and an expansion of the Senior Center. Construction square footage estimates have not been developed for these projects. September 5, 2006 -2- Item No. 21 Although City staff will evaluate the appropriateness of LEED certification in major renovations, the goal to achieve LEED Gold established by this Resolution applies to new construction of City- owned buildings over 5,000 square feet. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Green buildings increase human performance, reduce the use of non-renewable energy, minimize environmental pollutants, and reduce the use of water, and lower the life-cycle costs. The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)Green Building Rating System and Certification program has become the nationally recognized standard for excellence in facility design. LEED certification can be achieved with little(<2%)to no incremental costs when the commitment to achieve LEED certification is established at the beginning of the design process and the design team is experienced in LEED design. The City of Fort Collins already pursues LEED Silver requirements for new construction(Action Plan for Sustainability; City Bid Specification Standards). This Resolution establishes a goal that all new City-owned buildings over 5,000 square feet achieve a LEED Gold certification, unless it is not technically or economically feasible to do so. LEED Gold buildings typically incorporate enhanced whole-building design solutions that result in significantly lower operations and maintenance costs over the building lifetime. Worker productivity is increased and environmental impacts are reduced. By demonstrating leadership in municipal construction, the City of Fort Collins can quicken green building market transformation and support economic development in the green building sector. To keep a tight control on costs, if the incremental cost of achieving a LEED Gold certification has a payback of greater than 10 years, the City may opt to seek the LEED Silver certification. For buildings where it is deemed technically infeasible to obtain a LEED Silver or Gold certification, the Resolution directs City staff to incorporate as many principles of green building as feasible. The Resolution also states that the City should begin using the appropriate LEED standard as a guide for the sustainable operation and maintenance of existing City buildings. BACKGROUND Why Should the City Raise Its New Construction Goal to LEED Gold? 1. Whole-Systems Building Approach. A major justification for raising the City's new construction objective from LEED Silver to LEED Gold is that,often to meet the Gold level,design teams must incorporate significant whole-building solutions, such as down-sizing equipment and implementing synergistic solutions. These types of solutions tend to yield longer and larger benefits and cost savings than component-by-component improvements. LEED-NC Gold reduces the possibility of constructing a LEED certified building that is not highly energy efficient. To further guard against this possibility,the Resolution contains language calling for City staff to set specific energy performance standards when developing bid specifics for each new building. September 5, 2006 -3- Item No. 21 2. Increased Life-Cycle Cost Savings. The 2003 study commissioned by California's Sustainable Building Task Force that looked at the life cycle costs of 33 green buildings in 12 states, concluded the incremental cost of achieving LEED-Gold was 1.82 % above conventional design for the same buildings, and that the financial benefit for LEED Gold and Platinum buildings, over a twenty year building life cycle, was about twenty times higher. 3. Leadership. Establishing a goal to achieve LEED-NC Gold provides an important opportunity to highlight the City of Fort Collins as a leader in green building. While several municipalities have established a standard to meet LEED-NC Silver, only two other cities in the U.S. have set a standard to achieve LEED-NC Gold for municipal facilities. See Attachment 2 for a list of local governments requiring LEED standards. 4. Economic development. By demonstrating leadership in green building, Fort Collins would be even better positioned to market the City as a highly desirable location for green businesses. Other cities that have implemented Green Building Policies and set LEED certification requirements have documented increased economic development. For example, since first implementing its green building policy in 2000, Portland has seen significant growth in green building expertise — including builders, architects, engineers, systems and material manufacturers, energy and environmental consultants, suppliers of reusable materials, and landscape architects. CITY'S GREEN BUILDING HISTORY The Cityhas articulated a commitment to green building in numerous policy and planning Sr g P Y P g documents,including the City's Administrative Policies and Procedures,the City's Action Plan for Sustainability,the Electric Energy Supply Policy,and the Local Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. See Attachment 2 for more detail. The City's experience with green building continues to grow. In 1998, Operations Services established the "Facilities Services Green Building Criteria" document. This document modified the LEED Green Building Rating System to make it more consistent with City codes,regulations and ordinances,more consistent with local climatic conditions,and more consistent with the local infrastructure. Within the above guidelines,the 215 North Mason City Administration Building,completed in 2001, features daylighting, an extensive energy management system, energy efficient transformers, T8 lights,a clean power energy generator,a real-time energy recording device,3 3%construction waste recycling, and use of building commissioning. The City Bid Specifications for New Construction contains guidance that new construction City buildings should meet LEED Silver criteria. The City's new Vehicle Storage Facility,completed in 2005,is the first City building to achieve a LEED Certification. In April of this year,it was awarded a LEED Silver certification. September 5, 2006 -4- Item No. 21 Two major City buildings in the design or construction stages now,the Northside Aztlan Center and the new Police Services facility, are being designed to meet LEED Silver standards. With regards to existing buildings, Operations Services has finalized an ESCO (Energy Services Company)agreement with Johnson Controls to provide an extensive energy audit of 29 of its larger buildings comprising 765,000 square feet of conditioned space. The ESCO will identify and evaluate energy-saving opportunities and then recommend a package of improvements to be paid for through savings.The ESCO will guarantee that savings meet or exceed annual payments to cover all project costs over a contract term of 10 to 15 years. If savings don't materialize,the ESCO pays the difference. To ensure savings, the ESCO offers staff training,monitoring of energy usage, and long-term maintenance services. ATTACHMENTS 1. The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings. 2. Further information on LEED (Description, Benefits, Municipal Government Policies). ATTACHMENT 1 Attachment 1 Report Summary: The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings New Study Shows Green Buildings are Highly Cost Effective Green Buildings:Good Business Measured Learning and Productivity Improvements Green buildings are cost-effective and make good Earlier studies document measurable benefits for business sense,according to a study issued in October enhanced daylighting,natural ventilation,and improved 2003 for 40 California state agencies.The study,by the indoor air quality in buildings.Benefits associated with Capital E group,Lawrence Berkley Laboratory and these"green" features include enhanced worker and participating agencies,is the most definitive cost-benefit student productivity,as well as reduced absenteeism and analysis of green building ever conducted. illness. • Heshong-Mahone Group study looked at student The California Sustainable Task Force funded the study to performance in 3 cities and found that students in help guide its work implementing executive orders that classrooms with the greatest amount of daylighting required the state to implement sustainable building performed up to 200/6better than those in classrooms practices and lease space that was energy efficient and that had little daylight. , environmentally sensitive,in a cost-effective manner. A study at Hemtan-Miller showed up to a 7% With this study,the California Department of Finance has increase in worker productivity following a move to a signed off on the existence of financial benefits associated green,daylit facility. with improved health productivity and lowered operations A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study and maintenance costs in green buildings. found that indoor air quality improvements could save U.S.businesses as much as$58 billion in lost Green Buildings Address Sloe's Challenges sick time and an additional$200 billion in worker Green buildings provide a potentially promising way to performance. help address a range of challenges: • High cost of electric power, 10 to I Benefit to Cost Ratio • Worsening electric grid constraints,with associated The report concluded that financial benefits of green power quality and availability problems; design are between$48 and$75 per square foot in a • Pending water shortage and waste disposal issues; LEED building,over 10 times the additional cost Continued state and federal pressure to cut criteria associated with building green.The financial benefits pollutants; were found to be in lower energ y,waste and water costs, • Growing concern over the cost of global warming; lower environmental and emissions costs,and lower • The rising incidence of allergies and asthmas, operational and maintenance costs and increased especially in children; productivity and health. • The health and productivity of workers; • The effect of the physical school environment on Financial Benefit Category 20- ear NPV children's abilities to learn; Certified Gold and • Increasing expenses of maintaining and operating and Silver Platinum state facilities overtime Energy Value 5.79 5.79 Water Value 0.51 0.51 Green Building Premium 2%Average Waste Value 0.03 0.03 The study analyzed 33 buildings in 12 states that achieved (construction only, 1 year) or are near achieving the US Green Building Council's Emissions Value 1.18 1.18 LEEDT"'certification.The average premium for these Commissioning 06M Value 8.47 8.47 green buildings is slightly less than 2%,substantially Productivity and Health Value -36.89 -- 55.33 lower than is commonly perceived.Assuming 20- ear NPV Benefits 52-871 71.31 conservative,relatively high California commercial Less Green Cost Premium 4.00 4.00 construction costs of$150/ft to$250/ft"a 2%premium is [Total 20- ear NPV 1 48.871 75.31 equivalent to$3 to$5/ft Source:USGBC,Capital EAnalysis Level of Green No.of Average Green Even without taking credit for the harder to measure benefits of emissions,commissioning,productivity and Standard Bld s Cost Premium health,the benefit to cost ratio is favorable.The energy, Level 1 - Certified 8 0.66% water and waste values alone total over$6 per square Level 2-Silver 18 2.11% foot,compared to the$4 green cost premium. Level 3-Gold 6 1.82% Level 4-Platinum 1 6.50% source: The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings:A Report to Average 33 1.84% Celitomie's Sustainable Building Task Force(October 2003), Soures:USGBC,Capital EAnalysis Capital E,Department of Heaa Services,Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory,available for free at http://www.usgbc.org/Dom/Nawg/News477,pdf Governors Officeof Energy Management@Conservation a e-mail rebuildcG@srate.co.us a www,wlomdo.govlwbuildw 0 2/28/04 Attachment 2 Further Information on LEED (Description, Benefits, Municipal Governement Policies) LEED Description The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED was created to: • define "green building" by establishing a common standard of measurement • promote integrated, whole-building design practices • recognize environmental leadership in the building industry • stimulate green competition • raise consumer awareness of green building benefits • transform the building market LEED provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. LEED recognizes achievements and promotes expertise in green building through a comprehensive system offering project certification, professional accreditation, training and practical resources. There are several rating systems with LEED, including rating systems for new buildings and major construction(NC), existing buildings EB), homes (H), and neighborhood developments (ND). "LEED for New Construction and Maior Renovations" or LEED-NC is a green building rating system that was designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects, with a focus on office buildings. Practitioners have also applied the system to K-12 schools, multi-unit residential buildings, manufacturing plants, laboratories and many other building types. In order to achieve LEED certification, project must achieve points from among the 69 possible total points in categories of Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation and Design. LEED-NC certification levels are: "Certified" - 26 - 32 points "Silver - 33 - 38 points "Gold" - 39— 51 points "Platinum" - 52 - 69 points. 1 LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB)maximizes operational efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts. It provides a recognized, performance-based benchmark for building owners and operators to measure operations, improvements and maintenance on a consistent scale. LEED-EB is a road map for delivering economically profitable, environmentally responsible, healthy, productive places to live and work. LEED-EB addresses exterior building site maintenance programs, efficient/optimized use of water and energy, purchasing of environmentally preferable products, waste stream management and on-going indoor environmental quality. In addition, LEED-EB provides sustainable design guidelines for whole-building cleaning/maintenance, recycling programs and systems upgrades to improve building energy, water, indoor environmental quality, and materials use. LEED Buildings in Fort Collins According to the US Green Building Council's Web-based list of LEED projects, three buildings in Fort Collins have already received LEED Certification: • Green Classrooms of Guggenhiem Hall, CSU, Silver rating. • Fossil Ridge High School, Poudre School District, Silver rating. • Vehicle Storage Building, City of Fort Collins, Silver rating. Several more projects have been registered for LEED but their certification is still pending: :g • Burr Oak Office Building, LEED NC 2.2 • Eastbrook Office Park, LEED NC 2.2 • New Belgium Brewing Company, LEED EB 1.0 • The Neenan Company, LEED EB 2.0 • City of Fort Collins (CSU Transit Center, Aztlan Center, Police Service Facility • Pioneer School • Fossil Ridge High School • Medical Center of the Rockies • Larimer County Courthouse Offices Benefits of Green Building and LEED Economic development. By demonstrating leadership in green building, Fort Collins would be even better positioned to market the City as a highly desirable location for green businesses. Other cities that have implemented Green Building Policies and set LEED certification requirements have documented increased economic development. For example, since first implementing its green building policy in 2000, Portland has seen significant growth in green building expertise—including builders, architects, engineers, systems and material manufacturers, energy and environmental consultants, suppliers of reusable materials, and landscape architects. Increase human performance and satisfaction with building interiors. Green building practices use materials that provide a healthier indoor environment. Products that contain 2 toxic materials are reduced or avoided entirely. According to a June 2006 Harvard Business Review Article entitled "Building the Green Way", the author reports that employers have experienced significant workforce benefits in green buildings, including stronger employee attraction and retention, as well as fewer illnesses and lower absenteeism, which reduces health care costs. In particular, green buildings can boost employee productivity by approximately 15%. Environmental Protection. Green building best practices and LEED standards minimize site erosion, manage storm water on-site, encourage alternative transportation, use materials and products efficiently, increase energy and water conservation, and project human health. Green buildings will reduce air pollution, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and will help the City meet its greenhouse gas reduction goal. Lower Life-Cycle Cost. The operation and maintenance of City of Fort Collins facilities is funded largely through the General Fund, which is supported by sales tax revenue. Green buildings have been shown conclusively to out-perform conventional buildings and lower operational costs. Lowering the operating costs demonstrates an increased level of fiscal responsibility and helps guard against the financial risks of rising energy prices and uncertainly in sales tax revenue levels. Enhance market transformation. Green building practitioners and suppliers in Fort Collins and the North Front Range continue to grow. Attendance at City-sponsored workshops and the Environmental Business Program Series on green building topics has grown steadily. While the existing LEED certified building in Fort Collins were constructed by governmental agencies, the list of buildings with pending certifications were constructed by private entities, indicating the expansion of interest in green building and LEED into the private sector. City of Fort Collins Municipal Green Building Policies The City of Fort Collins has numerous policies and programs calling for green building and sustainable management practices in municipal operations. The Citv's Administrative Policies state that City buildings should exemplify the use of environmental design and construction in a variety of ways, including but not limited to: • Incorporating adequate space for recycling facilities into the construction or remodeling of City facilities. • Applying"green building"measures whenever possible in construction or remodeling of City buildings. • Using the latest available proven technology to provide energy-efficient and cost- effective heating, cooling, lighting, and water heating services in the design, construction, and renovation of all City facilities. The Citv's Action Plan for Sustainability(September 2004) contains the following sustainability policy: 3 "The City of Fort Collins will serve as a community leader in sustainability by conducting daily operations through balanced stewardship of human,financial, and environmental resources for present and future generations. " This action plan contains goals and targets for advancing sustainability within City operations. One of the top nine priority areas identified in the plan is "Green Buildings." The 2003 Electric Energy and Supply Policy states several objectives that coincide with improving the energy efficiency of City facilities, including "Develop and implement policies that require the use of energy efficient design principles in the renovating and constructing all City facilities." The 1999 Local Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions establishes a goal to reduce citywide emissions of greenhouse gases to 30 percent below worst-case projected 2010 levels by 2010. For City facilities, the Plan established a goal to, "Reduce City building energy use 15% per square foot below 1990 levels,by 2010." Other Municipal Government Green Building Policies Scottsdale, AZ—LEED Gold: In March 2005, the City of Scottsdale, AZ became the first US municipality to approve a Green Building Policy that directs all new city buildings to meet the LEED Gold or Platinum standard. The standards will also apply to renovations of existing facilities when feasible. The City determined that achieving LEED Gold or Platinum would add, on average, about 2% to the total project cost. In May 2006, Scottsdale completed their first LEED Gold building under this policy. The environmentally friendly features and construction practices added 2 percent to the $11 million price tag of their new senior center. The building will use roughly half the power a conventional building would use, according to the architect. Portland, OR—LEED Gold(April 2005): The City of Portland, OR the blazed the trail in 1999 by adopting a Green Building Policy. This policy was updated in 2005, and now Portland requires that all new, City-owned facilities construction projects meet LEED Gold certification, requiring at least: - 75% of all construction and demolition(C&D) waste is recycled; and - 30%beyond City of Portland's Stormwater Management Manual baseline code requirements; and - 30% water savings beyond the Energy Policy Act of 1992 baseline code requirements; and - 30% energy savings beyond Chapter 13 of the Oregon Structural Specialty Code baseline requirements; and Building commissioning as required by the State Office of Energy to be eligible for the Sustainable Building Business Energy Tax Credit. In addition, Portland's Green Building Policy extends to publicly-funded, private-sector development, City-owned infrastructure, and private sector development. 4 Vancouver, B.C. Canada—LEED Gold: The City of Vancouver B.C. was the first municipality to adopt the LEED Gold standard for public facilities. Vancouver's research found that the 1-3%up-front cost increment to achieve a Gold rating was negligible and Council resolved that the value created by achieving a higher level of building performance readily reclaimed the extra investment. Planning Analyst Dale Mikkelsen notes, "the issue in Council soon became about the cost of not adopting a LEED Gold Standard".' Canada's national government recently passed a LEED Gold equivalent standard for all new projects as an important part of Canada's need to meet the Kyoto Protocol. Eugene, OR—LEED Silver: In July 2006, the City of Eugene, OR adopted a resolution that all new construction and additions encompassing 10,000 gross square feet or more of building area should achieve a Silver certification level of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEEEP Green Building Rating System for New Construction (LEED-NC). A higher equivalent rating(Gold or Platinum) should be sought where practicable as funding is available. Of particular significance in Eugene's resolution is the attention paid to existing building inventory. The City of Eugene believes that both new construction and ongoing building operations are important, especially as the majority of a building's environmental impact occurs during its active use over the life of the building. Their approach has been to adopt sustainable practices as standard operating procedure applicable to all existing City buildings rather than focusing on individual buildings. The assumption is that the total benefits will be greater by improving the way services are provided to the entire building inventory, rather than addressing a single building at a time. Seattle, WA —LEED Silver: The City of Seattle's Sustainable Building Policy was adopted in 2000 and requires all City-owned projects greater than 5,000 112 to budget for, and achieve, a LEED Silver level of certification. The adoption of the Policy coincided with the City's largest-ever capital improvement campaign - over $1 billion - and has resulted in 15 City-owned LEED projects to date. One of the City's latest projects will be LEED Gold certified and is $180,000 under budget. The State of Washington also recently signed into law the high performance green buildings bill and became the first US state to adopt a LEED Silver Standard for all public facilities greater than 5,000-ft2, including schools. San Francisco, CA —LEED Silver: The City of San Francisco recently amended its Resource Efficient Buildings Ordinance to require that all future City development greater than 5,000-ft2 meet or exceed a LEED Silver level of certification. The amendment augments the City's standard, which previously relied upon"resource efficiency requirements" and yielded buildings that performed roughly equal to a LEED Certified level building. ' Personal Communication from Dale Mikkelsen,Central Area Planning Analyst,City of Vancouver,B.C.,Canada, January 5,2005 to Gregory Ackers,Portland 5 Other local governments that have adopted the LEED Silver standard for municipal projects include: Alameda County, CA, Arlington, MA, Atlanta, GA, Berkeley, CA, - all new construction over 5000 sq feet Boulder, CO, Calabasas, CA, Calgary, B.C., District of Columbia Parks and Recreation, Dallas, TX, all new construction over 10,000 sq feet Houston, TX, Kansas City, MO, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Santa Monica, CA, Seattle, WA. 6 RESOLUTION 2006-096 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS ESTABLISHING A "LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN' GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION GOAL FOR NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS WHEREAS, in the United States, the building sector is the largest consumer of electricity and source of greenhouse gas emissions, and globally, buildings use one-quarter of all the world's wood harvest; and WHEREAS, by 2035, it is projected that three-quarters of the built environment in the United States will be either new or renovated, thus creating an important opportunity to implement sustainable building practices and constrict buildings that are environmentally responsible and healthy places to live and work; and WHEREAS, "green building" is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment; and WHEREAS, green buildings are cost effective and make good business sense according to a recent study by the U.S. Green Building Council that analyzed 33 green buildings in 12 states and found that the average additional cost for constructing green buildings was less than two percent and the financial benefits were over ten times the additional cost; and WHEREAS, green buildings can boost employee productivity by 15%, provide stronger employee attraction and retention, and result in fewer illnesses and lower absenteeism, which reduces health care costs; and WHEREAS, the City Council intends for the City to take a leadership role in increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from municipal operations, and conducting municipal operations in a sustainable manner; and WHEREAS, green design and construction decisions made by the City in the construction and remodeling of our buildings can result in significant cost savings to the City over the lifetime of the buildings; and WHEREAS, United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDTM) Green Building Rating System and Certification is a nationally recognized standard for excellence in facility design offering multiple levels of certification; and WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins Action Plan for Sustainability established a goal that all new City buildings pursue LEED-NC Silver requirements; and WHEREAS, the Fort Collins municipal government has already achieved a LEED-Silver certified building (the Vehicle Storage Facility) and has two major construction projects (the Police Services facility and the Northside Aztlan Center) being designed and constructed to meet LEED-Silver requirements; and WHEREAS, green building complements existing policies related to development and natural resource conservation including City Plan, the Local Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the municipal Action Plan for Sustainability, the Electric Energy Supply Policy, and City air quality and solid waste and recycling policies. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City shall establish a goal to meet at least LEED Gold certification for all new, City-owned buildings of 5,000 square feet or more by: (a) prior to releasing bid specifications for each new City building, reviewing the current LEED standards and identifying certain standards that must be met in order to ensure the most energy efficient building for that building type; and (b) implementing an integrated design process for new buildings; and (c) proactively and consistently encouraging the City design teams to achieve LEED Gold throughout the design and construction process. Section 2. That, subject to the cost considerations set forth in Section 3, below, the City shall design, contract, build and operate all existing and future buildings to incorporate as many principles of green building (energy, materials, water, site) as feasible to reduce building operating costs and environmental impacts. Specifically, the City should begin using the appropriate LEED standard as a guide for the sustainable operation and maintenance of existing City buildings. Section 3. That, in order to maintain control over the cost of new City building projects, if the payback period for recovering the incremental cost of a particular new facility to achieve LEED Gold, when compared to the cost to achieve LEED Silver is greater than ten years, City staff is directed to design, contract, build and operate the facility consistent with the LEED Silver standard instead of the LEED Gold standard. If the building-type does not lend itself to LEED certification, City staff is directed to consider other options to achieve maximum energy and environmental efficiency as cost-effectively as possible. Section 4. That, in connection with projects jointly funded with other organizations, if the City Manager determines that an external organization providing the majority of funding for a City project has not formally adopted or accepted a LEED certification standard, or is not otherwise willing to participate in the incremental costs of meeting such standard, the City Manager may determine that the LEED certification standards set forth in this Resolution shall not apply. Section 5. That the City Manager is directed to include information regarding progress in achieving green building principles and specifically regarding LEED certifications for any new and existing buildings as part of reports to be prepared regarding the City of Fort Collins Action Plan for Sustainability. Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 5th day of September, A.D. 2006. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk