Builders weigh in on city's green building proposal

How that policy should be structured, however, is causing a stir.

Some argue that the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification system is the best way to go. Others say that the city should not tie itself to one particular rating system, and still others wonder if certification is even necessary.

On Oct. 2, Springfield City Council heard a presentation by Jason Hartke, manager of state and local advocacy for the U.S. Green Building Council, on the city’s proposed green building policy. Officials said, Hartke spoke at no cost to the city

“There are about 650 … towns and cities in Missouri, and we would be the fourth to adopt this type of policy,” said Councilman Dan Chiles, the city’s leading advocate for green building. “It’s like the sled dog team – if you’re not the lead dog, all the views look the same. We want to be out in front, but we also want to be prudent with taxpayer money.”

The case for LEED

The U.S. Green Building Council created the LEED certification standards to guide its green building efforts.

The proposed policy would require all new city buildings to be constructed to meet LEED Silver standards, but it would not require those buildings to be certified, which typically adds about 2 percent to building costs. The city’s extra investment for green buildings also would have to be recuperated, through utility savings and increased worker productivity, within five years.

Hartke said he is impressed with the city’s efforts to create a comprehensive green building plan and encouraged officials to add the certification process. If so, Springfield would become one of about 80 municipalities nationwide with similar ordinances. Three Missouri cities – Clayton, Kansas City and St. Louis – are on that list.

The process, he said, would ensure that facilities are being built to the same standards to which they are designed.

While critics cite the extra upfront costs as a drawback, Hartke argued that savings in green buildings are considerable and immediate. Energy and water usage can be cut by as much as 50 percent in LEED-certified buildings, and the average 2 percent additional cost for building green is usually paid off within the first two years, he said.

“Over the first 20 years of a building’s life cycle, the investment is paid off 10 to 20 times,” Hartke told council. “Any time you can get 10 to 20 times the return on investment, that’s significant.”

Other certifications

Some groups, however, are not convinced that city should require LEED certification is the best way to go.

“Our first request is that they would make (the policy) broader than just one standard,” said Matt Morrow, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield.

HBA thinks the policy also should account for other green building certifications, such as Energy Star from the Environmental Protection Agency and Green Globes from Green Building Initiative.

Springfield Contractors Association also is on board with the multiple certification policy.

Morrow points to Section 5 of the proposed city policy, which requires a five-year return on investment for “each green building design element.”

That requirement, Morrow said, lends itself more to Energy Star certification, because that process looks specifically at energy efficiency, which is where most cost recovery occurs.

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t build to LEED, or that they should build to Energy Star (standards),” Morrow said. “I’m saying that what they should do is make available to themselves a variety of options.”

But Councilman Chiles said LEED is really the only viable option.

“There are other groups that will verify your appliances, mechanical systems, even your house,” Chiles said. “But there are no other systems out there that will verify an entire building like this.”

Chiles thinks council is leaning toward requiring some sort of certification, but Mayor Tom Carlson considers the topic an ongoing discussion.

“This isn’t something that we’ll talk about today and then go do something,” Carlson said, noting that the next step is sending the policy to the city’s Community Involvement Committee for further review, a step council is expected to approve at its Oct. 8 meeting.

Carlson said he hopes council will be able to vote on the policy proposal by the end of the year.

HBA’s Morrow also would like to see further discussion on Section 6 of the proposed policy, which “encourages private residential and commercial developers to use green building design … whenever feasible.” Morrow said the section is too vague and should be considered on its own as a separate policy issue.[[In-content Ad]]