Recommendation
This session is intended as a discussion between the Mayor and Council and the Environment Commission. The primary topics expected to be covered include the conferral of an Environmental Excellence Award for the Tower Companies for their recently-opened 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevardbuilding; the Environment Commission's recommended approach for the City's Green Building Program; and the Commission's other FY 2009 goals and activities.

Discussion
The Environment Commission has three primary items they would like to discuss with the Mayor and Council:

1) Reinvigoration of the Commission's Environmental Excellence Awards Program
2) Green Building Program Recommendations
3) Commission's Goals and Recent Accomplishments

Reinvigoration of the Commission's Environmental Excellence Awards Program
The Mayor and Council adopted the Rockville Environmental Excellence Awards program in 2003 and designated the Rockville Environment Commission as the entity to evaluate and select nominees deserving of an award. The purpose of the awards program was to stimulate public awareness and promote the environmental achievements of outstanding projects and/or practices within Rockville. The Commission presented its first three awards at the April 22, 2004 Mayor and Council meeting. The awards were originally intended as annual events; however, no awards have been made since 2004. To stimulate nominations, the Commission has recently revised the program to allow for recognition on a rolling basis. This change should allow the Commission to bestow the award at the most appropriate time for each recipient.

The Environmental Excellence Award has four categories (Attachment A):

1. Outstanding Environmental Stewardship
2. Outstanding Leadership in Environmental Practices
3. Outstanding Achievement in Green Building Technology/Design
4. Outstanding Environmental Education and Academic Achievement

The Commission plans to solicit future nominations in Rockville Reports and on the City's Web site. Nominations can be made by downloading an application form (Attachment B) posted on the Environment Commission's Web site and mailing, emailing, or faxing it to either the City Clerk's Office or the Environmental Management Division. The Commission also would like to allow for direct submittal via the City's Web site in the future.

The Environment Commission encourages qualified parties to apply for or nominate individuals or organizations for the appropriate award category. The Environment Commission will review all applications and select worthy applications for submittal to the Mayor and Council for award recognition.

2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard Building
At their September 9, 2008 meeting, the Environment Commission voted to recognize the Tower Company for Outstanding Achievement in Green Building Technology/Design for their 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard project. 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard has been designed to achieve LEED-Platinum certification - the highest level of building performance as measured by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council. It also is the first building in the State of Maryland designed to be ENERGY STAR certified with a score of 87 (only 75 points required for ENERGY STAR certification).

Details of some of the environmentally friendly design features employed by the Tower Companies to achieve LEED-Platinum certification for 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard are provided (Attachment C).

Green Building Program Recommendations
The Environment Commission has spent considerable time researching, examining, and discussing various approaches to a Green Building Program for Rockville. They have examined all segments of building ownership and classes of users, and have conducted their own research on case studies from around the country and region. They have formulated twelve basic guiding principles and recommendations for the creation of a comprehensive Green Building Program in Rockville. The list of Commission recommendations with annotated notes to more fully explain the Commission's intent are provided (Attachment D).

The twelve recommendations are:

1. Prioritize program implementation into at least two phases
2. Without requiring certification, use the LEED rating system to define acceptable levels of environmental performance for new and existing commercial, industrial, and municipal buildings
3. Create a "Green Fund" and determine an appropriate sliding scale for contribution based on development size
4. Create a "Green Bond" for new developments over a certain size and a "Green Fee" for renovations impacting more than 50 percent of a structure
5. Perform a short-term audit of the City's current permitting and inspection process to define areas where an expedited "green fast tracking" could save developers time and money
6. Implement the "green fast tracking" procedure to expedite the development, review, and inspection process for the "best performing buildings"
7. Develop "green tracking performance indicators" to document successes
8. Involve the Environment Commission in the building review, as appropriate
9. Develop a voluntary "Rockville Green Residence (RGR)" program with checklists for homeowners to follow to certify their homes
10. Develop a voluntary "Rockville Green Business (RGB)" program with checklists for sustainable business practices
11. Develop an education and outreach program for all sectors of the City
12. Harmonize all parts of the City Building Code and other relevant code sections to meet the requirements of this program

Mayor and Council History
This is the first joint session of the Mayor and Council and the Environment Commission in more than 5 years. The Mayor and Council authorized the Environmental Excellence Award program in 2003. The Mayor and Council were briefed on the Green Building initiative on December 10, 2007.

Fiscal Impact
Since this is a series of discussions without action, there is no fiscal impact associated with this agenda item. However, we recognize there may be significant fiscal impacts associated with the Rockville Green Building Program. When City staff submits the proposed program to the Mayor and Council, including amendments to the City's building codes (estimated in approximately 6 months), we will include a full fiscal analysis.

Next Steps
1. The Tower Companies will be invited to a future Mayor and Council meeting to receive the Rockville Environmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Green Building Technology/Design for their 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard project.

2. City Staff will use the guidance presented by the Commission to create the first draft of the City's Green Building Program. This first draft will be presented to the Commission for review and verification that it meets their criteria, after which it will be opened up for public comment, including public meetings.

Attachments

Department Head:



Craig Simoneau, P.E.; , Director of Public Works
Approved on: 09/16/2008

City Manager:

Scott Ullery, City Manager
Approved on: 09/17/2008