HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/24/2017 Item 11, Cooper
To:SLO City Council, Derek Johnson and Marcus Carloni
Re:PH #11: Climate Action Task Force Memorandum of Understanding and
Assignment of Council Member Liaison to the Task Force
From:Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo
Date:October 23, 2017
Honorable Mayor Harmon and Council Members -
Education, research, advocacy and climate action group participation is not enough. Our net
zero deadline is fast approaching and there will be no way to address this challenge without
also incorporating strict regulatory requirements into our General Plan. Of course SLO
already has in place ordinances for the preservation and enhancement of our existing tree
canopy and open spaces. But best practices in other jurisdictions within the State of California
already include such prescriptive requirements, above and beyond Title 24 and exceeding the
2016 Building Energy Eciency Standards for cool roofs, cool paving, energy conservation
using photovoltaic panels as well as for runo retention.
These include, but are not limited to:
1.promoting low impact development strategies for cool roofs and cool paving:
Berkeley Climate Action Plan: The City of Berkeley is pursuing a requirement to install
cool roofs on commercial buildings for new construction or re-rooÐng projects as part of
the cityÈs promotion of energy eciency in their climate action plan.
Chula Vista Climate Action Plan: The City of Chula Vista performed a cost-beneÐt
analysis of cool roof options, in conjunction with San Diego Gas & Electric. The results of
this analysis were used to inform a 2012 revision to the city building code that increased
the minimum cool roof requirements à now consistent with those in the CalGreen code,
voluntary Tier 2. (See Cool Roofs: Codes and standards section for review of requirements.
City of Los Angeles Cool Roof Ordinance The city passed in December 2013 a cool roof
ordinance requiring all new residences or existing residences undergoing roof renovations
to install cool roof products. This includes single-family and multi-family buildings. To aid
this transition, the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is oering cool roof
rebates. Learn more about the LADWP program on the Rebates & Incentives page.
Martinez Climate Action Plan: The City of Martinez is mitigating their urban heat island by
promoting cool community strategies à cool roofs, cool pavements and urban vegetation Ã
in their climate action plan. The city is planning to adopt new building codes along with
new parking and landscape regulations to implement the cool community strategies.
2.including mandatory conservation measures for energy (i.e., photovoltaic panels):
In 2013 The City of Sebastopol became the second U.S. city to require photovoltaics (PV)
to be installed on new buildings. The ordinance applies to all new commercial and
residential buildings, and additions to existing commercial and residential buildings. Other
California Cities that have subsequently incorporated into their ordinances the requirement
for solar PVÈs are as follows (see: http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/2016standards/
ordinances/):
City of Fremont
City of Palo Alto
City of San Francisco
City of Santa Monica
3.requiring large developments to manage their own runo through the use of retention
basins, bio-swales and introducing vegetative ground cover into our Ñood plains and along
our riparian corridors
UCSFÈs new Mission Bay campus has bioswales surrounding its parking lots thanks to San
Francisco Ès ordinance requiring large developments to manage their own runo
City of Pasadena requires an LID Plan which is a document developed to control
pollutants, pollutant loads, and runo volume being released from the project site by
minimizing the impervious surface area and controlling runo from impervious surfaces.
Finally, though not mandatory, there are best practices for i incentivized conservation
measures for rain water harvesting (i.e., rain cisterns):
City of Palo Alto Stormwater Rebates (see: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/pwd/
stormwater/rebates/cisterns.asp?BlobID=14858)
City of Sunnyvale Rainbarrel Rebate (see: http://sunnyvale.ca.gov/Departments/
EnvironmentalServices/Water/WaterConservation.aspx)
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Rainwater Harvesting (see: http://sfwater.org/
index.aspx?page=178)
In conclusion, climate change is far, far too important for us to simply rely on voluntary
implementation measures. Thank you!