May 19, 2008

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, in testimony before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming May 14, outlined the Bay City’s progress in “greening” conventional buildings to achieve energy efficiency and conservation.

The Committee, Chaired by Representative Ed Markey (MA), heard Newsom say that San Francisco went from modest requirements to green municipal buildings almost a decade ago to “the country’s most aggressive green building standards for all news buildings.”

Newsom said the environmental effort was achieved with the full support of the building business and the city’s business community amidst sustained development.

The hearing’s formal title was “Building Green, Saving Green: Constructing Sustainable and Energy Efficient Buildings.” This theme resonates with the Conference of Mayors intense effort to secure appropriations for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) as included in the “Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007” – last year’s massive energy bill now Public Law 110-140.

The packed hearing, which drew a room full of tourists, interns, energy advocates and others, was spurred in part by the appearance and testimony of Hollywood celebrity actor Edward Norton who urged lawmakers to tackle environmental issues.

Norton’s credibility on the subject is enhanced by the fact that he is a trustee of the non-profit group Enterprise, an organization founded by his grandfather, James Rouse, to provide affordable housing.

These impacts of conventional buildings are well known. Seventy percent of total electricity consumption in the US, forty percent of total national energy consumption, and 38 percent of the greenhouse gases produced nationwide are produced by conventional buildings. In San Francisco, this impact is even greater, buildings in our city account for almost half (49%) of citywide greenhouse gas emissions.

In light of these environmental impacts, the advantages of green buildings are abundant: These buildings save energy and water while providing a healthy environment for those working or living in these buildings. They achieve energy efficiency and conservation, improve indoor air quality, use non-toxic and efficient building materials, and are often located close to public transportation. These buildings save resources while reducing operating costs, and also remarkably improve productivity in the workplace. National studies suggest that resource-efficient buildings can improve worker productivity by as much as sixteen percent by reducing the number of sick days and improving workplace morale.

San Francisco’s experience with green buildings began almost ten years ago, in 1999, when we enacted our first green building ordinance. This law change required LEED certification for all city buildings. (In San Francisco, we rely on established national and regional standards such as the US Green Building Council’s LEED system and the GreenPoint Rating System).

On Treasure Island, a former Navy base positioned between San Francisco and Oakland, we are planning the greenest community in American history with unprecedented sustainability and green building features in the over six thousand homes being constructed. It will be a model of urban density amidst 300 acres of open space, and feature non-auto transportation such as ten minute ferry service to downtown San Francisco.

In 2006, we turned our attention to the entire stock of over 195,000 buildings in our city—both residential and commercial buildings—by establishing a Green Building Taskforce. This taskforce was comprised of ten building industry leaders including building owners, developers, financiers, architects, engineers and construction managers. They met over the course of several months to determine appropriate incentive and standards to implement in our city and then recommend legislation to my office to introduce to advance this policy.

First, a clear policy pathway exists to address the over one-third of greenhouse gases that result nationally from buildings. Thanks to visionary energy efficiency standards enacted years ago in California’s Energy Code (Title 24), our State’s per capita carbon footprint is the lowest in the nation. But in San Francisco, we’re not stopping there. Implementing point-based environmental building standards that allow developer flexibility while ensuring a unprecedented levels of environmental performance of our building stock will bring large decreases over time in our greenhouse gas pollution. The pilots and testing have been concluded and green building standards been proven to work. Now its time to implement these heightened standards.

Second, green buildings generate another type of green besides environmental performance: monetary savings for the those who invest and construct in new buildings. In our city, we have witnessed green buildings providing substantial financial return for the industry leaders who have built these projects—with energy savings and high leasing levels sustained over time. As fossil fuel continues to increase in cost over time, the financial advantage of green buildings multiplies.