DATE: December 10, 2015
TO: Council Sustainability Committee
FROM: Director of Utilities and Environmental Services
SUBJECT
Title
Addressing Sustainability Impacts in Staff Reports
End
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That the Committee reviews and comments on this report and provides a recommendation to the full City Council.
Body
SUMMARY
Hayward prides itself on being “Green” and has many projects, policies, and programs that demonstrate the City’s leadership in sustainability. The City also has many Green policies, primarily incorporated in the General Plan, to help guide future projects and Council decisions in a way that continues and expands the City’s leadership. However, given the number and breadth of policies established by Council, it is sometimes a challenge to ensure consistency with those policies related to sustainability. This report proposes incorporating a new section in staff reports to Council, Commissions, and Committees wherein Sustainability Impacts would be addressed in a succinct and consistent manner at a defined place in each report.
BACKGROUND
Since 2011, “Green”, i.e., sustainable practices, has been one of the Council’s top three priorities, although Hayward’s efforts to innovate in the area of sustainability have been in place for much longer. Following are a few examples:
• 1991 - Hayward was among the first to establish a curbside recycling program.
• 1992 - Hayward was the first jurisdiction in Alameda County and among the first in California to adopt a Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE)
• 1993 - Hayward was a trail blazer when the Council adopted and implemented tiered water rates to encourage water conservation. Many water districts have only recently adopted tiered rates in the face of the current drought. Hayward is now among the lowest 4% of all water users in California in average residential per capita water consumption.
• 2001 - Hayward was among the first to adopt and enforce a Construction and Demolition Debris recycling ordinance
• 2003 - Hayward was one of the first cities in Alameda County to install solar PV in a City facility (at the Corporation Yard)
• 2007 - Hayward was among the first to innovate the idea of free commercial recycling in order to foster recycling in the business sector. This resulted in the City being the first City of 100,000 residents or larger in Alameda County, and the County unincorporated area, to reach a 76% waste diversion from landfill in 2014.
• 2009 - Hayward was among the first in California to adopt a Climate Action Plan (CAP).
• 2010 - The City installed a one megawatt solar photovoltaic facility at the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF), which was one of the two largest installations of its kind in the County at that time.
• 2013 - Hayward converted all of its streetlights (more than 8,000) to LED technology, saving more than $300,000 per year in energy costs.
• 2013 - The City upgraded its power and heat co-generation system at the City’s WPCF, making the system twice as large and twice as efficient. The new system uses combined heat and power from bio-gas to make the WPCF energy self-sufficient and export excess energy from the co-generation system and all of the solar energy produced to other City facilities. The City uses PG&E’s new RES-BCT (Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer) tariff and Hayward was the first municipality in PG&E’s service area to use RES-BCT.
• 2014 - Hayward was one of the first cities in California to integrate its Climate Action Plan into the General Plan, in part, to ensure that sustainability is taken into consideration in Council decisions across the full spectrum of its decision-making process.
• 2015 - In October this year, Hayward was recognized by the Local Government Commission’s Beacon Award program for implementing a wide range of sustainability best practices, including significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
• 2015 - Also in October, the City was honored by the USEPA as one of three entities nationwide to receive the Green Power Leadership Award for on-site generation.
In order to continue this long tradition of innovation and green practices on a consistent basis, Council, Commissions, and Committees should receive information about the sustainability impacts of each of the projects submitted for their review, and each project’s aspects that will lessen its footprint, so that they are in a position to help Hayward continue and build on these best practices and to make fully informed decisions.
DISCUSSION
While the City has been recognized for its sustainability leadership, this leadership and these honors are more likely to continue if there is a mechanism in place to ensure that all adopted Council policies in all aspects of sustainability are considered during the design and adoption of new projects and programs. Impacts of proposals on the City’s sustainability-related goals need to be provided in a clear and concise manner.
In an effort to more effectively and consistently implement the City Council’s “Green” priority and related General Plan policies, staff has identified a need to address sustainability by adding a simple section in the report template similar to how Economic Impacts and Fiscal Impacts are currently addressed. Staff’s intent is to ensure that complete information regarding sustainability is provided to help inform a wide range of decisions, including proposals for capital projects, purchasing, contracting, and various programs and policies. There have been recent discussions about how to streamline report preparation and to ease the burden on report authors as well as for those who read the reports. Staff is aware of the need to keep the discussion of sustainability short and to the point.
In general, most reports should include a Sustainability Impacts section; however, in some cases, it may not be needed. The section should be included when the proposal will result in a physical development (construction, demolition, or renovation); the purchase of a product or service; or a new policy or legislation.
The attached guidance document (Attachment I) lists questions, derived from various sustainability-related policies in the General Plan, that should be considered when preparing a Sustainability Impact section. Most reports will need to address select questions; however, all reports should address:
1. Energy (electricity, natural gas, energy efficiency, and renewable energy)
2. Water (consumption, efficiency, and local reuse)
3. Air (including GHG emissions)
4. Solid Waste and Recycling (waste reduction, recycling, and composting)
5. Procurement (recycled and recyclable products or contracting with Green Businesses)
6. Transportation (complete streets)
Environmental Services staff will, upon request, review and assist with preparation of Sustainability Impact sections.
Following are two examples of hypothetical Sustainability Impact sections:
Apartment Project
The proposal for a 15-unit condominium building includes the following sustainable practices:
• Energy - Roof-mounted solar panels will be installed to provide approximately 80 percent of the building’s electricity needs. Features of the project that mitigate the use of electricity include all LED lighting and Energy Star® appliances as well as construction that meets the efficiency standards of the 2017 energy code.
• Water - The architect estimates the project will use ________ gallons of water each year, or ________ per capita. This is below the current annual average of all residential per capita use in Hayward. Water-conserving features of the project include ultra-low flow toilets that use only 0.8 gallons per flush, low flow showerheads and aerators, and Bay-Friendly rated landscaping with no ornamental lawn.
• Air - The project does not include any wood-burning fireplaces.
• Solid Waste & Recycling -The project will be in full compliance with the recycling and composting service requirements.
• Transportation - The project will have parking for only one car per household and the parking area will be pre-wired to allow installation of an electric vehicle charger for each resident. Each unit will have space to store two bicycles. The building will be located a half-mile (a ten-minute walk) from the South Hayward BART station. Pedestrians, bicycles, and cars currently share the road. The street has sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides.
Pavement Rehabilitation Project
The proposal to rehabilitate a half-mile section of upper B Street includes the following sustainable practices:
• Energy - This project will utilize a Cold In-place Recycling (CIR) stabilization method, which is an environmentally friendly and cost effective treatment.
• Water - This project will also make improvements to the landscaping by adding permeable pavers, low-water usage trees, drought tolerant shrubs, and succulents. Additionally, the irrigation system will use subsurface driplines, bubblers, and a Calsense irrigation controller to manage and reduce water use.
• Air - The CIR method described earlier in the staff report helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is consistent with the goals of the City’s Climate Action Plan.
• Solid Waste & Recycling - The CIR method recycles and reuses six inches of existing pavement material, which will reduce waste. All excess concrete and asphalt will be recycled.
• Transportation - The project will include restriping to accommodate new bicycle lanes and is consistent with the City’s recently adopted Complete Streets Policy, where consideration is to be given to cyclists and pedestrians, in addition to vehicular traffic.
Staff reviewed this proposal with members of the Green Team, which includes staff representatives from all City departments. The concerns expressed were focused on making the analysis easy to complete and ensuring that help will be available to report writers when assistance is needed. As noted above, Environmental Services staff will be available to assist other departments with preparation of sustainability discussions in their reports.
NEXT STEPS
Upon direction from the Committee, staff will present this proposal to Council in early next year.
Prepared by: Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager
Staff contact
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Utilities and Environmental Services
end
Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments:
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Attachment I |
Guidance for Addressing Sustainability in Staff Reports |