The document discusses sustainable development codes. It notes several global challenges related to fuel, food, health, climate change, and biodiversity. It also discusses challenges facing local governments like changing demographics, increasing costs, and financial strain. The document advocates for development codes that support sustainability by removing barriers, creating incentives, and addressing issues like climate change, renewable energy, food supply, health, and water conservation. It provides examples from Miami-Dade County related to energy efficiency, greenhouse gas reduction, and renewable energy systems. The document argues that sustainable development codes can provide individual, community, and global benefits related to issues like water and energy conservation.
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9/8 THUR 14:30 |Green Elements and Sustainable Codes 3
1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CODES Presented By: Benjamin A Herman, FAICP bherman@clarionassociates.com Florida APA Conference September 2011
2. A Sustainable World??? Fuel: Oil production to peak in next 5-10 years…while world oil consumption increases by 50% by 2030. Food: China will demand more food in 2030 than the entire world produces today. Health: 34% of U.S. population obese. Obesity in children has tripled in last 3 decades. Costs the nation $147 billion in weight-related hospital bills. Climate:Last decade--hottest on record; 99% of glaciers in Alaska in retreat; 5-foot sea level rise; weather extremes predicted…violent storms, drought.. Biodiversity: Habitat destruction…ocean acidification = 6TH major species extinction event looming??
3. A Changing Nation Changing household makeup Aging population Increasing fuel costs (peak oil) Water shortages/increasing costs Local government financial strain
4. Local Government Sustainability Programs Hybrid fleets Compact fluorescent bulbs Plant street trees Green city buildings Purchase renewable power Recycling programs
5. What’s Missing? Little focus on: Development patterns/ private development Development code barriers to “green” projects Incentives
6. How Can a Development Code Support Sustainability? Development codes CAN help address critical issues: CLIMATE CHANGE/CARBON EMISSIONS RENEWABLE ENERGY FOOD SUPPLY HEALTH WATER CONSERVATION MOBILITY HOUSING CHOICES AND OTHERS
7. Key Features of a Sustainable Code Covers new topics: energy, health, food security, climate change, recycling—and relationships among them Not just reactive or prescriptive: removes barriers, creates incentives Balanced approach toenvironment, economics, social aspects of development Tailored regionally to local climate and ecology
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9. Example: Miami-Dade County Funded by DOE EECBG Grant Incorporate sustainability provisions into development regulations and building code Focus areas: Energy Efficiency Greenhouse Gas Reduction Renewable Energy Systems
10. Example: Miami-Dade County Energy Efficiency & Conservation Focus Areas: Remove barriers to green roofs (lack of standards) Energy-efficient outdoor lighting Water budgets for all uses Allow non-conforming uses to add green features without triggering conformity Shade structure requirements Expedited permitting for green buildings Major Barrier= FL State Building Code restriction on adopting more stringent standards
11. Example: Miami-Dade County The greenhouse effect – greenhouse gases trap heat and are linked to the leading cause of global warming. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Focus Areas: Promoting compact, mixed-use development patterns Recycling & composting Tree protection strategies (landscape credit) Provisions for ADUs Standards to increase MXD (incentives, parking reductions, etc)
15. Example: Miami-Dade County The greenhouse effect – greenhouse gases trap heat and are linked to the leading cause of global warming. Greenhouse Gas ReductionFocus Areas: Promoting compact, mixed-use development patterns Recycling & composting Tree protection strategies (landscape credit) Provisions for ADUs Standards to increase MXD (incentives, parking reductions, etc)
19. Sustainable Code: Other Issues Transportation Natural area protection Urban agriculture Community health
20. Other Examples Tucson, Arizona Food production Water quality and conservation Urban heat island Omaha, Nebraska Building design and construction Affordable housing/diversity Salt Lake City, Utah Open space Community health and safety
21. Code Green: Dollars and Sense Individual: How will I benefit? Community: How will my neighborhood/community benefit? Global: How will this benefit my country/the planet?
22. Example: Water (individual) Indoor: Retail cost $236 $56/year savings Outdoor: Xeric landscape savings of $400-1,000 yr. in water costs & lower maintenance, lower initial capital cost
27. Closing Thoughts “ I’m a simple guy – a cleaner planet is better for everyone. So I don’t care whether its automobiles making it dirty or smokestacks in Ohio or it’s the natural cycle of the universe…it doesn’t matter.”
28. “When we have a cleaner planet its better for everyone – so lets work together to get the planet healthy. That’s all.”
29. Bill O’Reilly – Fox News “When we have a cleaner planet its better for everyone – so lets work together to get the planet healthy. That’s all.”
30. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CODES Presented By: Benjamin A Herman, FAICP bherman@clarionassociates.com Florida APA Conference September 2011
Hinweis der Redaktion
The sustainability indicators are by any measuring troubling…and the issue just isn’t about climate change. Peak oil and $5 gas are definitely looming. This isn’t coming from doomsday crackpots, but from the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell—he believes demand will exceed supply by 2015. Indeed, recently it was revealed that the US Government informed Saudi Arabia that it’s oil reserves were likely overstated by 300 million barrels. This is also an issue of national security.--Ocean acidification, fully explored in a recent issue of National Geographic, is the next looming sustainability issue. Acidification may destroy coral reefs and prevent shellfish from forming shells. Goodbye oysters!!??--All these indicators would seem to counsel us to be cautious in the way we live and work. As Richard Branson, the millionaire founder of Virgin Airways and other enterprises has observed…if you had a 50% chance of being hit by a car when trying to cross a road, you would either not cross it or at least buy insurance to cover if you were hit. He asks why not be cautious about climate change and its causes and implications.
National changes are having a big influence on our growth patterns. Our population is changing (see the 2010 census); we are getting older, energy costs are straining households, and local governments are coming to the conclusion that sprawl is not sustainable fiscally – never mind whether they like it or not!
Local governments have taken the lead on sustainability. I work primarily for local governments and am proud of the way they have stepped up. Over 1,000 communities (1051) have signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement committing to reducing carbon emissions below their 1990 levels. Even in the oil patch city of Tulsa (where the sports teams are called the Oilers and Drillers), the Mayor has signed on. Many European countries have already attained this goal while growing their economies (e.g., Germany).--But most local programs focus on municipal operations and technological fixes For example, the highly regarded Denver Greenprint report and policy devotes only 2 pages to land use issues (transit-oriented development).
What’s missing is a focus on the long-term—especially development patterns that will be with us for decades. It makes no sense to build a LEED Platinum building if that building is located in a sprawl locations distant from workers so people have to commute 50 miles round trip and drive everywhere for lunch and services during the day.
--Note that development codes include zoning, subdivision, site planning, historic preservation, and wetlands regulations among others. Can be in multiple documents.--Time Magazine ran an article that listed 51 things that the average person can do to make a difference re global warming. Fully 1/3 were directly related to land use and development codes (e.g., put up a solar panel or greenhouse (but only if your zoning code allows), ditch the McMansion (more and more communities are limiting or penalizing large house sizes).
--A sustainable development code differs from current flavors of zoning codes (Euclidean, form-based, performance, etc.) in some important ways.
--The sustainable code charts 3 paths to sustainability. First, it focuses on removing barriers, which is an easy sell in most communities, especially during tough economic times. Second, it looks to incentives to promote sustainable development. Third, it recognizes that there are regulatory gaps that must be filled—sometimes incentives will not accomplish an important goal quickly enough because developers understandably focus on the short-term bottom line, not the bottom line for their tenants, buyers, or community as a whole. Water is a good example.
--Climate change is attributed to the warming effects of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxides. Burning of fossil fuels for transportation and heating/cooling of buildings is the primary source. Smart land use codes can help reduce GHG emissions in a variety of ways.--Mixed use projects typically help reduce VMTs by 5-25% and more by reducing commuting, mid-day trips, encouraging walking, etc. This dramatically reduces carbon dioxide emissions.--Colorado Springs and many other communities are making mixed-use development as easy as standard strip commercial. Importantly, transitional compatibility standards have been put in place to protect surrounding existing neighborhoods. KC allows mixed use in all commercial districts, neighborhood serving retail in some residential.--Note that older infill areas of Lincoln have less flexibility when it comes to modifying or waiving certain development standards compared to more suburban areas—even though plan calls for more infill and redevelopment.--Lincoln already processes zoning/subdivision applications relatively quickly compared to other communities, so perhaps not so much opportunity there (may be different with building codes)
--Climate change is attributed to the warming effects of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxides. Burning of fossil fuels for transportation and heating/cooling of buildings is the primary source. Smart land use codes can help reduce GHG emissions in a variety of ways.--Mixed use projects typically help reduce VMTs by 5-25% and more by reducing commuting, mid-day trips, encouraging walking, etc. This dramatically reduces carbon dioxide emissions.--Colorado Springs and many other communities are making mixed-use development as easy as standard strip commercial. Importantly, transitional compatibility standards have been put in place to protect surrounding existing neighborhoods. KC allows mixed use in all commercial districts, neighborhood serving retail in some residential.--Note that older infill areas of Lincoln have less flexibility when it comes to modifying or waiving certain development standards compared to more suburban areas—even though plan calls for more infill and redevelopment.--Lincoln already processes zoning/subdivision applications relatively quickly compared to other communities, so perhaps not so much opportunity there (may be different with building codes)
--Climate change is attributed to the warming effects of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxides. Burning of fossil fuels for transportation and heating/cooling of buildings is the primary source. Smart land use codes can help reduce GHG emissions in a variety of ways.--Mixed use projects typically help reduce VMTs by 5-25% and more by reducing commuting, mid-day trips, encouraging walking, etc. This dramatically reduces carbon dioxide emissions.--Colorado Springs and many other communities are making mixed-use development as easy as standard strip commercial. Importantly, transitional compatibility standards have been put in place to protect surrounding existing neighborhoods. KC allows mixed use in all commercial districts, neighborhood serving retail in some residential.--Note that older infill areas of Lincoln have less flexibility when it comes to modifying or waiving certain development standards compared to more suburban areas—even though plan calls for more infill and redevelopment.--Lincoln already processes zoning/subdivision applications relatively quickly compared to other communities, so perhaps not so much opportunity there (may be different with building codes)
--Climate change is attributed to the warming effects of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxides. Burning of fossil fuels for transportation and heating/cooling of buildings is the primary source. Smart land use codes can help reduce GHG emissions in a variety of ways.--Mixed use projects typically help reduce VMTs by 5-25% and more by reducing commuting, mid-day trips, encouraging walking, etc. This dramatically reduces carbon dioxide emissions.--Colorado Springs and many other communities are making mixed-use development as easy as standard strip commercial. Importantly, transitional compatibility standards have been put in place to protect surrounding existing neighborhoods. KC allows mixed use in all commercial districts, neighborhood serving retail in some residential.--Note that older infill areas of Lincoln have less flexibility when it comes to modifying or waiving certain development standards compared to more suburban areas—even though plan calls for more infill and redevelopment.--Lincoln already processes zoning/subdivision applications relatively quickly compared to other communities, so perhaps not so much opportunity there (may be different with building codes)
--Climate change is attributed to the warming effects of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxides. Burning of fossil fuels for transportation and heating/cooling of buildings is the primary source. Smart land use codes can help reduce GHG emissions in a variety of ways.--Mixed use projects typically help reduce VMTs by 5-25% and more by reducing commuting, mid-day trips, encouraging walking, etc. This dramatically reduces carbon dioxide emissions.--Colorado Springs and many other communities are making mixed-use development as easy as standard strip commercial. Importantly, transitional compatibility standards have been put in place to protect surrounding existing neighborhoods. KC allows mixed use in all commercial districts, neighborhood serving retail in some residential.--Note that older infill areas of Lincoln have less flexibility when it comes to modifying or waiving certain development standards compared to more suburban areas—even though plan calls for more infill and redevelopment.--Lincoln already processes zoning/subdivision applications relatively quickly compared to other communities, so perhaps not so much opportunity there (may be different with building codes)
--Sustainability goes beyond just environment to health, nutrition, mobility—all issues a comprehensive sustainable code will cover.--We can expect a paradigm shift in the way people think about development codes.
--Sustainability goes beyond just environment to health, nutrition, mobility—all issues a comprehensive sustainable code will cover.--We can expect a paradigm shift in the way people think about development codes.
--Sustainability goes beyond just environment to health, nutrition, mobility—all issues a comprehensive sustainable code will cover.--We can expect a paradigm shift in the way people think about development codes.