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ORANGE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE, PARKS AND RECREATION MEMORANDUM To: Commission for the Environment From: Rich Shaw Date: June 3, 2015 Subject: Summary of the presentation on Chapel Hill's green building incentives At your April 13 meeting the CFE received a presentation on the Town of Chapel Hill's pilot program of providing financial incentives for sustainable design (or "green building'') within the Ephesus Church / Fordham Renewal District. The following is a summary of the presentation and CFE discussion: Chapel Hill's Green Building Incentives — John Richardson (Planning Manager for Sustainability) and Jesse Freedman (Energy Management Specialist) presented an overview of the Town of Chapel Hill's pilot program of providing financial incentives for sustainable (or "green building ") design. Richardson noted that this pilot program applies only for development within the Ephesus Church / Fordham Renewal District. Freedman said the Town's objective is to incentivize developers to build high - performance buildings with better energy and water conservation performance than the 75th percentile of similar buildings. He noted that prior to this program the incentive was to build the worst energy and water efficient buildings allowed by law. Freedman described the Town's process of choosing a green building standard for energy use from among many options, including LEED certification, Energy Star, 2030 Challenge, and others. The Town chose the Energy Star program, which the staff considers a neutral standard. The Town chose the State water performance standard. Freedman said the intent was to create standard that are rigorous and achievable. Freedman said in this pilot phase the financial incentive for builders is up to a 35% reduction in their development permit fees. He reviewed the benefits of green building versus conventional building in terms of energy use and water consumption. He noted the tendencies for higher rental rates (+ 2% — 17 %), greater resale value (+ 5.8% - 35 %), higher market value (+ 13.5 %), and lower operating expenses (- 30 %) for green buildings on average. Richardson said the rebate could result in a potential total maximum reduction in revenue from permit fees of about $600,000; however that level of activity is highly unlikely. He said there have been only two applicants to date. Richardson said Town staff will try to verify performance measures, likely through periodic field inspections. Freedman and Richardson responded to questions from CFE members: