Sustainable North Texas: Many Shades of Green Kenneth Calhoun Senior Development Planner North Central Texas Council of Governments
Fact: Green is Red Hot General Public nationwide has been awakened by: global warming high fuel prices water shortages poor air quality Pressure on governments and businesses to turn GREEN
But what does Green mean? How GREEN are you/we willing to be?
Entities trying to accelerate the Green Revolution
Standards and rating systems designed to assist LEED
Some cities already pursuing City of Frisco Adopted Energy Star rating as requirement for all new homes City of Dallas Adopted requirement for all new homes to be 15% better than 2006 IECC plus water conservation measures beginning Oct 09 City of Rowlett Adopted LEED certification for municipal buildings and Energy Star similar to Frisco
City of Fort Worth Other Examples Sustainable North Texas Sustainability and Green Building Task Force seeking to create a sustainability program versus a green building plan City of Arlington Preparing a citywide Carbon Footprint City of Plano Have had a Sustainability Director for two years, facilitating a collaborative of cities
What is NCTCOG s Role? NCTCOG is a voluntary association of, by and for local governments. By state statute, the purpose of a council of governments is to make studies and plans to guide the unified, far-reaching development of the region, eliminate duplication, and promote economy and efficiency in the coordinated development of a region.
Expanding NCTCOG s Services under Sustainable North Texas Sustainable Sites & Buildings Sustainable Public Rights-of-Way Sustainable Communities & Region More to Green than just buildings
Best Practices for Sustainable North Texas Sustainable Sites & Buildings Concept: NCTCOG serves as the regional repository for sustainable best practices implemented in North Texas During rest of FY2008 will beta test a threetier process for gathering and evaluating information on best practices Beginning with two regional priorities: storm water post-construction best practices building energy conservation best practices
Why Post-Construction Storm Water? More than 100 cities/counties in our region have state storm water discharge permits, which include requirements for post-construction best management practices The iswm Design Manual for Site Development includes the full array of potential BMP s We need as much local BMP performance data as we can to enhance the manual In FY09 we will be reviewing the design manual and adopting a Second Edition
Why Building Energy Conservation? All of the various green building certifications give significant credit for energy efficiency All of the various local government green programs address energy use NCTCOG committees regularly review the International Code series, and recommend regional amendments for local adoption The USEPA has made the eight-hour ozone standard even more stringent, requiring even greater attention to all potential control measures
What is the Three-Tier Process? Listed best practice owner has identified the practice, location, contact person, brief paragraph/ photos thru web-based input. Google app will map (NCTCOG disclaimer).
What is the Three-Tier Process? Listed best practice owner has identified the practice, location, contact person, brief paragraph/ photos thru web-based input. Google app will map (NCTCOG disclaimer). Documented best practice Owner has collected at least one year of performance data and made available for web-posting in whatever format they desire. NCTCOG makes available as pdf on web (NCTCOG disclaimer).
What is the Three-Tier Process? What is the Three-Tier Process? Listed best practice owner has identified the practice, location, contact person, brief paragraph/ photos thru web-based input. Google app will map (NCTCOG disclaimer). Documented best practice Owner has collected at least one year of performance data and made available for web-posting in whatever format they desire. NCTCOG makes available as pdf on web (NCTCOG disclaimer). Recognized best practice NCTCOG periodically assembles a peer panel to review all info provided for all best practices in a given category (such as energy), with intention to package key info for regionwide use.
Next Steps for Best Practices Launched at www.sustainablenorthtexas.org During rest of FY2008 will beta test the three-tier process for gathering and evaluating information on best practices This fall will form & convene peer panels for each category If successful, will fully implement in FY2009 (and consider more categories)