Agenda - 11-18-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Commissioner Dorosin said this is a strong committee, and they provide a real resource to help the Board put together the different priorities of the County. He said he would like to look at these issues through the lenses of equity and social justice. He said one of the elements that is not on list is the fact that transportation hubs should be in and around communities that have affordable housing. He said it is also important to look at whether conservation land is distributed equitably throughout the County so that everyone has reasonable access to enjoy these areas. Jan Sassaman said these are good comments. He said one of the benefits of this report is that it is electronic, and it can be updated as needed. Commissioner Price said this is a great report, and she recognized Commissioner Gordon for her contribution. Commissioner Gordon said the CfE should be a part of the bond discussion and should lend their support to the Lands Legacy program. 2. Orange County Environmental Summit - October 11 (Attachment 2) This discussion was combined with item 1 above. 3. Incentives for Enerav Efficient Construction and Renovation (Attachment 3 David Neal said this was a proposal that came up in 2012 and was brought to the Board of Commissioners and the Planning Board. He said this was dropped at the Planning Board level. He said this is allowed by N.C. statute. David Neal reviewed the following information from the abstract: The Orange County Commission for the Environment ( "CFE ") invited the Orange County Planning Board to consider a Low Energy Construction Permitting Incentive ordinance in 2012. N. C. Gen. Stat.§ 153A -340 allows counties to charge "reduced building permit fees or provide partial rebates of building permit fees for buildings" that meet or exceed recognized energy efficient design and construction principals. Members of CFE are available to work with the Planning Board and county staff to review similar ordinances enacted pursuant to this statute (for example, from Catawba County) and from around the country, then to draft an ordinance for consideration by the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Neither the current level of carbon in the atmosphere nor projected increases in greenhouse gas emissions are sustainable. Costly and potentially irreversible adverse climate effects are likely unless mitigation measures — such as increased energy efficiency investments and decreased fossil fuel consumption — are taken in the near future. In Orange County, we cannot wait for policy changes at the state and federal level to encourage increased energy efficiency. Steps taken now to improve efficiency and decrease or eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels for energy production will help lock -in reduced energy use for years to come. Since 2003, Orange County has been a member of Local Governments for Sustainability, an international membership association committed to a sustainable future. Creating incentives for energy efficiency in construction is consistent with Orange County's commitment to a sustainable future. The 2005 Greenhouse Gas Inventory revealed that nearly fifty percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Orange County come from residential and commercial buildings (consistent with national data1). Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, in conjunction with Hillsborough, are currently working on a revised inventory of greenhouse gas emissions and attempting to identify reduction measures.