Milpitas Municipal Code Ch. 20 Green Building Regulations

Footnotes:

--- (16) ---

Editor's note— Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, adopted November 19, 2013, amended the Code by repealing former Ch. 20, §§ 1—8, and adding a new Ch. 20, §§ 1—8. Former Ch. 20 pertained to similar subject matter, and derived from Ord. No. 65.138, adopted June 16, 2009.

The purpose and intent of this Chapter is to enhance the public health and welfare by promoting the environmental and economic health of the City through the design, construction, maintenance, operation and deconstruction of buildings and other site development by incorporating green building practices into all development. The green building provisions referred to in this Chapter are designed to achieve the following goals:

1. Increase energy efficiency;

2. Encourage water and resource conservation;

3. Reduce waste generated by construction projects; and

4. Promote the health of residents, workers and visitors to the City.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

The purpose of this Section is to ensure precision in interpretation of this Chapter. This Section provides definitions of terms and phrases used that are technical or specialized, or may not reflect common usage. If any of the definitions in this Chapter conflict with definitions in other provisions of the Municipal Code, these definitions shall control for the purposes of these Green Building Regulations. If a word is not defined in this Chapter, or other provisions of the Municipal Code, the most common dictionary definition is presumed to be correct.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

The following terms shall have the ascribed definition for the purposes of applying the criteria of this Chapter.

A

"Addition" means new construction square footage added to an existing structure.

"Applicant" means any entity that applies to the City for the applicable permits to undertake any covered project within the City, or any subsequent owner of the site.

C

"Compliance Official" means the Building Official or designee.

"Compliance Threshold" means the minimum number of points or rating level of a green building rating system that must be attained for a particular Covered Project.

"Covered Project" means any planning entitlement application(s) or building permit application(s) for commercial (non-residential) new construction or renovations, for any single-family, two-family or multi-family new construction or renovation, or for city-sponsored construction projects subject to the Standards for Compliance Section of this Ordinance.

G

"Good Faith Effort" means a project that has not met the required compliance threshold, but for extenuating reasons or reasons beyond the control of the applicant, the Compliance Official has found the project meets the good faith effort provisions.

"Green Building" means a whole systems approach to the design, construction and operation of buildings that substantially mitigates the environmental, economic, and social impacts of buildings. Green building practices recognize the relationship between the natural and built environments and seek to minimize the use of energy, water and other natural resources and provide a healthy, productive indoor environment.

"Green Building Project Checklist" means a checklist or scorecard developed for the purpose of calculating a green building rating.

"Green Building Rating System" means the rating system associated with specific green building criteria and used to determine compliance thresholds. Examples of rating systems include, but are not limited to, the LEED and GreenPoint Rated systems.

"GreenPoint Rated" means a residential green building rating system developed by the Build It Green organization.

"GreenPoint Rated Verification" means verification of compliance by a certified GreenPoint Rater, resulting in green building certification by Build It Green including green points allocation across all of the resource categories.

L

"LEED®" means the "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

M

"Mixed Use" means the construction of a building or buildings that include both commercial and residential uses.

"Multi-Family Residential" means a building containing three or more attached dwelling units.

N

New Construction, Commercial (Nonresidential). "Commercial (Nonresidential) New Construction" means the construction of a new retail, office, industrial, warehouse, service, hotel, motel, or similar building(s), or additions to such building(s).

New Construction, Residential. "Residential New Construction" means the construction of a new single-family or two-family dwelling unit or of new or replacement multi-family residential building(s), or additions to such building(s).

P

"Priority Plan Review" means a covered project meeting the Incentives for Compliance will receive building permit plan review comments from all City Departments on the first plan review within 50 percent less time than what would normally be scheduled for the scale and size of the project. The plan review would be performed during regular working hours and would be scheduled ahead of other plan reviews for which off-hour fees were not already paid.

Q

"Qualified Green Building Professional" means a person including but not limited to an employee of the City, trained through the USGBC as a LEED accredited professional or through Build It Green as a certified green building professional or similar qualifications if acceptable to the Compliance Official.

R

"Renovation" means any rehabilitation, repair, remodeling, change, or modification to an existing building, where changes to floor area and the footprint of the building are negligible.

S

"Single-Family or Two-Family Residential" means a single detached dwelling unit or two units in a single building.

"Square Footage," for the purposes of calculating commercial, multi-family residential, and single-family and two-family new construction square footage, means all new and replacement square footage, including basement areas [seven feet or greater in height] and garages, except that unconditioned garage space shall only count as 50 percent of that square footage. Areas demolished shall not be deducted from the total new construction square footage.

(Ord. No. 315, § 2, 1/7/25; Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

Standards for Compliance for covered projects are identified in Table 3.01-1, Green Building Standards for Compliance, of this Chapter.

Table 3.01-1 Green Building Standards for Compliance1

Note: All square footage is gross.

*

Renovation area includes only the area of work that requires permit application.

Per these green building regulations, a rating system other than LEED or Build It Green may be used with equivalent thresholds at the discretion of the Compliance Officer.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

The following projects are exempted from the provisions of this Chapter:

1. Buildings designated as a local Cultural Resource or listed on California Register of Historic Resources or the National Registry of Historic Places.

2. Remodels or renovations to residential buildings that do not add more than five new dwelling units.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

To further encourage higher levels of green building compliance for a project, incentives are offered for Residential and Commercial (Nonresidential) projects.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

Projects meeting the following threshold shall be eligible for Priority Plan Review:

1. Projects earning 75 Green Points or equivalent in LEED.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

Projects meeting the following threshold shall be eligible for Priority Plan Review:

1. Projects meeting LEED Gold and above.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

A. Responsibility of the Compliance Official. The responsibility of the Compliance Official shall be as follows:

1. The Compliance Official shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary or appropriate to achieve compliance with the requirements of this Chapter. The rules and regulations shall provide, at a minimum, for the incorporation of green building requirements of this Chapter into checklist submittals with planning entitlement and building permit applications, and supporting design, construction, or development documents to demonstrate compliance with this Chapter.

2. The Compliance Official shall have the responsibility to administer and monitor compliance with the green building requirements set forth in this Chapter and with any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and to grant exemptions from the requirements, where so authorized.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

Compliance with the provisions of this Chapter shall be listed as a condition of approval on any discretionary permit approval, and on the building plans for building permit approval, for any Covered Project.

A. Compliance Procedures. The procedures for compliance documentation shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. Preliminary Documentation. Applicants for a Covered Project are encouraged, but not required, to meet with the Compliance Official or his or her designated staff, in advance of submittal of an application, to determine required green building thresholds for compliance and to review the proposed green building program and details to achieve compliance.

2. Discretionary Planning Entitlements. Upon submittal of an application for any discretionary planning entitlement for any Covered Project, including but not limited to Site Development Permits, Conditional Use Permit, Planned Unit Development or Variance requests, application materials shall include the appropriate completed checklists, as required by Section 3, Standards for Compliance, of this Chapter, accompanied by a text description of the proposed green building program and expected measures and milestones for compliance.

3. Building Plan Review. Upon submittal of an application for a building permit, building plans for any Covered Project shall include a checklist and green building program description, reflecting any changes proposed since the planning entitlement phase (if a planning entitlement was required). The checklist shall be incorporated onto a separate plan sheet included with the building plans. A qualified green building professional shall provide evidence of adequate green building compliance or documentation to the Compliance Official to satisfy the requirements of Section 3, Standards for Compliance, of this Chapter, prior to issuance of a building permit.

4. Documentation for Final Building Inspection, Verification, and Occupancy. Prior to scheduling of final building inspection and occupancy for any Covered Project, a Qualified Green Building Professional shall provide evidence of adequate green building compliance or documentation to the Compliance Official to satisfy the requirements of Section 3, Standards for Compliance, of this Chapter. This information shall include, but is not limited to:

a. Documentation that verifies incorporation of the design and construction-related credits specified in the project approval for the Covered Project. This documentation can be in the form of inspection records when a City Building Inspector serves as the Qualified Green Building Professional;

b. A letter from the Qualified Green Building Professional that certifies that the Covered Project has been constructed in accordance with the approved green building project checklist;

c. Any additional documentation that would be required by the LEED reference guide for LEED certification (if required), or by the GreenPoint Rated manuals for GreenPoint Rated certification (if required); and

d. Any additional information that the applicant believes is relevant to determining that a good faith effort has been made to comply with this Chapter.

5. Final Determination of Compliance and Good Faith Effort to Comply. Prior to final building inspection for a Covered Project, the Compliance Official shall review the documentation submitted by the applicant in Section 5.02 (A)(4) above, and determine whether the applicant has achieved the required compliance threshold as set forth in Section 3, Standards for Compliance, of this Chapter, and/or demonstrated that measures are in place to assure that compliance shall take place no later than one year after approval of final building inspection.

If the Compliance Official determines that the applicant has met the requirements of Section 3 of this Chapter, for the project, the final building inspection may proceed, provided the Covered Project has received approval of all other inspections required by the Compliance Official.

If the Compliance Official determines that the required green building rating has not been achieved, the Compliance Official shall find one of the following:

a. Good Faith Effort to Comply: When an applicant submits a request in writing to the Compliance Official for approval of a good faith effort to comply, the Compliance Official shall determine that the applicant has made a good faith effort to comply with this Chapter when finding that either:

i. The cost for assuring compliance is disproportionate to the overall cost of the project, or

ii. The green building materials and technologies on the green building checklist are no longer available or not yet commercially available, or

iii. At least 80 percent of the required green point credits have been achieved, and measures are in place to assure full compliance not later than one year after approval of the final building inspection.

Determination of a good faith effort to comply shall be made separately for each item on the green building project checklist. Granting of a good faith effort to comply for one item does not preclude the need for the applicant to comply with the other items on the green building checklist.

b. Non-Compliant Project. If the Compliance Official determines that the applicant has not made a good faith effort to comply with this Chapter, or if the applicant fails to submit the documentation required within the required time period, then the project shall be determined to be non-compliant, and the final inspection and approval for the project shall be withheld. A final inspection shall not take place until the applicant has implemented equivalent alternate measures approved by the Compliance Official or unless an exemption is granted for the project.

6. Non-Compliance. If, as a result of any inspection, the City determines that the Covered Project does not or is unlikely to comply with the approved plans or green building checklist, a full stop work order shall be issued if the Compliance Official determines that continuation of construction activities will jeopardize the project's ability to meet the required compliance threshold. The stop order shall remain in effect until the Compliance Official determines that the project will be brought into compliance with the approved plans and/or checklist.

7. Lack of Inspectors. If the Compliance Official determines that there is a lack of Qualified Green Building Professionals available to perform green building inspections within a timely manner, the Compliance Official may allow the architect, designer or contractor, who is a Qualified Green Building Professional, of the project to determine that green building requirements have been met.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

If an applicant for a covered project believes that circumstances exist that make it a hardship or infeasible to meet the requirements of this Ordinance, the applicant may request an exemption. In applying for an exemption, the burden is on the applicant to show hardship or infeasibility.

The applicant shall indicate in the pre-permitting documentation the maximum number of credits he or she believes is practical or feasible for the covered project and the circumstances that he or she believes make it a hardship or infeasible to comply fully with this Chapter. Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to, availability of markets for materials to be recycled, availability of green building materials and technologies, and compatibility of green building requirements with existing building standards.

1. Granting of Exemption: If the City Manager or designee determines that it is a hardship or infeasible for the applicant to meet fully the requirements of this Chapter based on the information provided, the City Manger or designee shall determine the maximum feasible number of credits reasonably achievable for the covered project and shall indicate this number on the pre-permitting documentation submitted by the applicant.

2. Denial of Exemption: If the City Manager or designee determines that it is possible for the applicant to fully meet the requirements of this Chapter, he or she shall so notify the applicant in writing.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

1. Any aggrieved applicant or person may appeal the determination of the Compliance Official regarding: (a) the granting or denial of an exemption; or (b) compliance with any other provision of this ordinance.

2. Any appeal must be submitted in accordance with Title I, Section 5, Appeals to Council, of the Milpitas Municipal Code.

3. The appeal process shall follow the procedures set forth in Title I, Section 5, Appeals to Council, of the Milpitas Municipal Code.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)

This Green Building Ordinance becomes effective on January 1, 2014 and applies to Covered Projects for which planning application(s) are submitted after January 1, 2014 or Covered Projects, not requiring planning entitlements, for which building permit applications are submitted after January 1, 2014.

(Ord. No. 65.142, § 2, 11/19/13)