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2019 cohort, and there were no NC communities in the first year, 2018. Next steps <br />for the grant include an onboarding webinar in the following week, working to <br />assemble inter-departmental team to assist in data gathering, and 2 days of training <br />in DC in late March. <br /> <br />After the presentation, McCullough commented that these LEED standards will <br />assist with the Climate Council’s efforts in that the USGBC is well-respected for their <br />role in vetting sustainable features of projects, they have an integrative approach, <br />and they already have useful definitions for key terms and concepts. <br /> <br />Rubinoff asked where the overlap was in these standards with climate action and <br />goals like those set by the Paris Climate Accords. While she appreciated that these <br />standards are a good monitoring and evaluation tool, she wanted to make sure that <br />these broad standards would be helping to meet those climate objectives. <br /> <br />McCullough pointed out that there were sections directly aimed at reporting your <br />climate performance and carbon intensity, and other sections relate to supportive <br />actions such as transit improvements. LEED is encouraging continuous improvement <br />and updates their standards over time to keep certified projects and communities <br />moving forward. They are pushing the edge and looking at net-zero and even net- <br />positive buildings and practices, so this is a good place to help us get started and <br />stay attuned to national best practices. <br /> <br />Rubinoff expressed a concern that a credit measuring compact and mixed use <br />development would only be worth 2 points, given how important land use policies <br />are to driving greenhouse gas emissions reductions. <br /> <br />Trueblood expressed an interest in knowing more about how Orange County’s cities <br />are going to be represented in a countywide certification. <br /> <br />Marcoplos said that there is no way that the County can tell the cities what to do, <br />and that the LEED standards do not require that all constituent governments have <br />the same policies and practices. This grant and certification effort will simply allow <br />the County to share well-vetted actions and resources to help all members’ climate <br />efforts. He then mentioned that this item may need to be discussed further in a <br />future meeting and that in the interim Bouma and McCullough can share the links <br />to the USGBC webinars. <br /> <br />V. Formation of Policy Committee <br />Bouma introduced this discussion by summarizing a proposal to create a Policy Committee <br />that came from Hansley-Mace, Trueblood, English, and Monast. The proposal was that this <br />group could work with the Climate Action Reporting committee to identify low-hanging fruit <br />in the policy arena (how we operate, invest, build, purchase, etc.) and make <br />recommendations where we see gaps. Then the group would move to proactive new policy <br />options all could implement as new ideas are tested around the state and country. <br /> <br />Trueblood added that the focus would be on internal policies that impact how governments <br />or organizations operate, more than on imposing policies on private citizens and businesses. <br />Examples include anti-idling policies and green purchasing policies. The committee could