PC 092210 Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

noted that because of the wide array of electives, designers have a lot of flexibility in how they design their ultimate project. He pointed out that there is overlap in many things such that some electives chosen to meet the 15-percent greater efficiency will also qualify as an elective. Mr. Corbett stated that in all the systems, some measures are very easy and inexpensive and some are more difficult and more expensive. He noted that the earlier the designer thinks about that, the easier it is for them to build green. He stated that a company that builds a good product is already doing a lot of these measures; however, for the company that is trying to cut every corner to keep costs to the bare minimum, its product is not going to be as nice and will have a more difficult time with this. Mr. Corbett stated that the CALGreen code was developed with input from many stakeholders from the industry, such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the California Building Industry Association (BIA), who are all supportive of and endorsing the Tier 1 level. He indicated that because Tier 2 requires such an additional level of energy efficiency, resulting in increased costs, many do not support this tier. He stated that Tier 1 is established for cities like Pleasanton to facilitate transition. He noted that in the meetings he has attended, as many people voiced concerns about rising costs for construction as those people who did not want the City to lower the level of green the City has in place. He indicated that it will be difficult to enforce the existing green building ordinance and the new CALGreen measures simultaneously; hence, this was the most logical and well received level for transitioning. He added that as it goes forward and because it is a statewide standard, architects and designers will have a more standardized understanding of the product and it will be less expensive for them to develop something rather than having to learn the specific rules in Pleasanton versus those in other cities. Chair Olson stated that one of the things that came out at the Chamber of Commerce meeting was the “requirement creep” which means that when a project is designed that meets the requirements, it is taken to the Planning Commission, and things get added on which adds to the cost. He noted that this can make Planning Commissions’ job easier if they can restrain from adding things when a project comes in. Commissioner Narum stated that she can think of a couple of instances where things were added as a trade-off for extreme FAR’s or density. Chair Olson agreed and noted that he commented on this at the Chamber meeting and gave the example of individuals wanting to build extremely large homes and the Commission wanting to see more LEED points. He further stated that the practice of adding on needed to stop. Commissioner Pearce agreed as well. She stated that she likes the standards because they are easily manageable and easily understandable. She added that her sense from reading all of the documentation is that if these are things the City will hold to, a lot of the concerns would go away such as how complicated and costly things are. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, September 22, 2010 Page 20 of 23