Sunnyvale passes green building ordinance

Sunnyvale passed a green building ordinance putting into place the policy established by the council late last year. It's a forward looking policy with strong targets.

Taking effect Jan 2010 it will cover:
(a) Newly constructed residential buildings;
(b) Residential alterations;
(c) Newly constructed non-residential buildings that are 5,000 gross square feet or more.
(d) New large non-residential interiors.
(e) Major alterations of existing non-residential buildings.

LEED Silver and BIG 70 serving as the baseline for a system that is differential by size and ratchets up over time. Full details of the staff report are available here.

Hopefully, this will be a standard for others to meet.

The San Jose Mercury offered this short article.

Sunnyvale approves green building ordinance
By Cody Kraatz
Sunnyvale Sun
Posted: 03/25/2009 12:58:27 PM PDT

Sunnyvale has approved a sweeping new green building ordinance that will phase in requirements and incentives for environmentally sustainable building practices in houses, condominiums and commercial buildings throughout the city.
The new standards, which the Sunnyvale City Council approved in principle in August, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010. After a series of meetings with homeowners, property owners, businesses and design professionals, the city delayed the rollout for a year to reduce the impact during the recession. This also allows more time to train city staff and educate the public.

The council approved the new ordinance 4-3 Tuesday night. The building standards will be updated periodically to match increasingly stringent state building codes and higher expectations of green buildings. The first phase will include lower standards — including some that are simply educational — while the third phase that kicks in during January 2013 will have higher requirements.

Barbara Fukumoto, a leader of the environmental group Sunnyvale Cool Cities, praised the program.
"Green buildings are good for the occupant, good for the owner, good for public health and good for the environment on which we all depend," she said.

Contact Cody Kraatz at ckraatz@community