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City tweaking green building code
Planners address issues with local, state requirements

by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

Pleasanton was in the forefront of going green, with requirements for new commercial buildings enacted in 2002 and expanded four years later to include residential. Now the city is planning to change the requirements, at least slightly, in light of the state's new standards.

The Planning Commission held a hearing last week to discuss amending the city's code with reference to the California Green Building Standards Code, known as CALGreen, before it goes into effect Jan. 1. If the city does not adopt its amendment by then, developers will be required to show they are in compliance with both sets of green building regulations.

CALGreen requires the following of new building construction:

* Reduce water consumption by 20%

* Divert 50% of construction waste from landfills

* Install low pollutant-emitting materials

* Separate water submeters for indoor and outdoor water in nonresidential buildings

* Moisture-sensing irrigations systems for large landscape projects

* Mandatory inspections of systems

CALGreen also has additional voluntary measures known as Tier 1 and Tier 2. City planning staff recommended adopting CALGreen Tier 1, which is similar to Pleasanton's current standard.

"The easiest thing would be to adopt the basic but that would be a step backwards," said Director of Community Development Brian Dolan at the Sept. 29 meeting.

Staff noted that CALGreen provides for greater uniformity of checklists, definitions and procedures throughout the state.

Downtown land use lawyer Peter MacDonald asked that the city "depoliticize green building" by keeping a level playing field for all applicants, being clear with the requirements, and making extra conditions incentive-based.

He said the city started out with a good set of requirements but then planners began to make changes to each project with "conditions creep."

"The biggest cost is dealing with bureaucracy," agreed contractor Michael Callahan, who said builders are going green on their own. "It's all farmed lumber -- why does it need to be certified?"

Pam Hardy of Ponderosa Homes told the commission that she never supported required photovoltaic wiring at $400 per unit. It costs $30,000-$40,000 per house to meet green requirements, she said, including site preparation, inspections, third-party reviews and design costs.

The commissioners discussed dropping the photovoltaic wiring regulation since it might not ever be used in individual houses.

The Planning Commission approved the amendment, directing staff to add price comparisons between projects with the different requirements for the report to the City Council, which is scheduled to address the green building amendment at its Oct. 19 meeting.

Posted by member of the community, a resident of the Pleasanton Valley neighborhood, on Oct 8, 2010 at 10:36 am

You cited Michael Callahan in the report, but that is incorrect. It was Michael O'Callahan who made the statement. I also noticed that the ref. to the submeters is not correct. The City will be requiring sep. meters (not submeters) for indoor vs. outdoor water use.