All City

The American Institute of Architects National Government Advocacy Team and Architecture 2030 are urging the US Conference of Mayors to adopt Resolution 50 which sets a goal of carbon-neutral city buildings by 2030 — that is, new city buildings will use no fossil-fuel or greenhouse gas emitting energy sources to operate.

The orgs are asking people to call their mayors this week before the meeting in early June. Background information, talking points, sample letters, and contact info up http://www.architecture2030.org/news/index.php

The text of the resolution reads like a nice little manifesto. Click below for the full text.

And how rare and wonderful to see a professional association engaging with progressive public policy!

Resolution No.50

Submitted By:

The Honorable Martin Chavez
Mayor of Albuquerque

The Honorable Greg Nickels
Mayor of Seattle

The Honorable Richard M. Daley
Mayor of Chicago

The Honorable Manuel A. Diaz
Mayor of Miami

ADOPTING THE “2030 CHALLENGE” FOR CITY BUILDINGS

1. WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has previously adopted strong policy resolutions for cities, communities, and the federal government to take actions to reduce fossil fuel consumption and global warming pollution; and
   
   
2. WHEREAS, the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international community’s most respected assemblage of scientists, has found that climate disruption is a reality and that human activities are largely responsible for increasing concentrations of global warming pollution; and
   
   
3. WHEREAS, the U.S. Building Sector has been shown to be the major consumer of fossil fuel and producer of global warming causing greenhouse gases; and
   
   
4. WHEREAS, the federal government through programs fostered within many of its key agencies and numerous state governments as well as municipalities across the U.S. have adopted high performance green building principles; and
   
   
5. WHEREAS, a recent study completed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the most definitive cost-benefit analysis of green buildings ever conducted, concluded that the financial benefits of green design are between $50 and $70 per square foot, more than 10 times the additional cost associated with building green; and
   
   
6. WHEREAS, the large positive impact on employee productivity and health gains suggests that green building has a cost-effective impact beyond just the utility bill savings; and
   
   
7. WHEREAS, studies have indicated that student attendance and performance is higher in high performance school buildings; and
   
   
8. WHEREAS, recognizing that a building’s initial construction costs represent only 20-30 percent of the building’s entire costs over its 30 to 40 year life, emphasis should be placed on the “life cycle costs” of a public building rather than on solely its initial capital costs; and
   
   
9. WHEREAS, the construction industry in the U.S. represents a significant portion of our economy and a significant portion of the building industry is represented by small business and an increase in sustainable building practices will encourage and promote new and innovative small business development throughout the nation; and
   
   
10. WHEREAS, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the national professional organization representing architects has adopted a position statement calling for the immediate energy reduction of all new and renovated buildings to onehalf the national average for that building type, with increased reductions of 10% every five years so that by the year 2030 all buildings designed will be carbon neutral, meaning they will use no fossil fuel energy.
    
    
11. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will encourage its members to adopt the following “2030 Challenge” for building performance targets:
    • New construction of City buildings shall be designed to and achieve a minimum delivered fossil-fuel energy consumption performance standard of one half the U.S. average for that building type as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy.
      
      
    • Renovation projects of City buildings shall be designed to and achieve a minimum delivered fossil-fuel energy consumption performance standard of one half the U.S. average for that building type as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy.
      
      
    • All other new construction, renovations, repairs, and replacements of City buildings shall employ costeffective, energy-efficient, green building practices to the maximum extent possible; and
      
      
12. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will work to increase the fossil-fuel reduction standard for all new buildings to carbon neutral by 2030, in the following increments:
    60% in 2010
    70% in 2015
    80% in 2020
    90% in 2025
    
    Carbon-neutral by 2030 (meaning new buildings will use no fossil fuel GHG [green house gas] emitting energy to operate); and
    
    
13. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will urge mayors from around the nation to join this effort by developing plans to fully implement the above mentioned targets as part of their procurement process and by establishing policies to insure compliance and measure results; and
    
    
14. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will urge mayors from around the nation to develop plans to fully implement the above mentioned targets for all new and renovated buildings within the City; and
    
    
15. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will work in conjunction with ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and other appropriate organizations to join this effort to develop plans to fully implement similar targets as mentioned above.
    
    

Text from the full list of resolutions (PDF).