Sustainability Rating Tools for Existing Neighborhoods Rating tools - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

S ustainability R ating T ools for Existing Neighborhoods March 11, 2015 Eliot Allen, LEED AP-ND , TransformativeTools .org

Sustainability Rating Tools for Existing Neighborhoods  Rating tools overview  3 tools - Living Community Challenge - 2030 Districts - Community Wildlife Habitat  Local rating tools  Tool selection criteria  Q & A

The World of Rating Tools

Tool Dimensions  Topical scope & physical scale  Primary users  Rating procedure & criteria  Tool maturity & market impact  Costs  User support  Standards conformity  Overall usefulness

Living Community Challenge Tool Family: All Neighborhoods Provider: International Living Future Institute Physical Scale: Neighborhoods Minimum Requirements: Greenfields not eligible Year Introduced: 2014 Onsite Verification: Yes Tool Training Yes Tool Credential: Yes

LCC Petals  Place  Water  Energy  Health & happiness  Materials Transect  Equity L1 Habitat preserve  Beauty L2 Rural agriculture L3 Village or campus L4 General urban L5 Urban center L6 Urban core

LCC Approach  All ‘imperatives’ are mandatory, no optional credits  Two stages: master plan compliance, community certification  Two cert levels: petals (min. 3), community (all 20 imperatives)  Certification requires 12 months of actual performance data  Fees by acreage & cert type: $7500 (master plan, petals cert), up to $35k (community, full cert)

LCC Imperatives  Integrated agriculture  Net positive water, energy, and waste  Sharing programs – tools, cars, books  Disaster preparedness  Maximum single-family dwelling floor area – 4,575 sq ft  Equity offsets to charity – ½ cent for every dollar of project cost  Public art – installations per capita  Project team – at least two with ‘ Just’ label

JustOrganizations.com

2030 Districts Tool Family: Existing Neighborhoods Provider: Architecture 2030 Physical Scale: Neighborhoods Minimum Requirements: Multiple existing and planned buildings Year Introduced: 2011 Onsite Verification: Yes – best in class Tool Training Yes Tool Credential: No

2030 District Goals New Construction  Energy: 60% reduction, carbon neutral by 2030  Water & Transportation CO2e: 50% reduction Existing Buildings & Infrastructure  Energy, Water & Transp CO2e: 10% reduction, 50% by 2030

2030 Districts Members  Property owners  Professional stakeholders – designers, contractors  Community stakeholders – non-profits, govt agencies Benefits  Shared assessment tools  Common procurement  Training/technical support  In-kind professional services  Packaged incentives, favorable financing

Community Wildlife Habitat Tool Family: Landscape & Parks Provider: National Wildlife Federation Physical Scale: Neighborhoods, cities, counties Minimum Requirements: Existing habitat Year Introduced: Unknown Onsite Verification: No Tool Training Yes Tool Credential: No

Community Wildlife Habitat  Flexible scale: HOA, neighborhood boundary, municipality, county  2 to 5 years for certification  Requirements: - public outreach - % of properties create habitat with: food, water, cover, nesting places, and implement sound gardening  Annual recertification required

CWH Steps 1. Define project boundary. 2. Assemble team. 3. Register: $75. 4. Execute work program: % of properties with required habitat. 5. Submit for certification.

Local Rating Tools Community Indicators NYSDOT Greenlites Consortium dot.ny.gov/programs/greenlights communityindicators.net Regional Indicators Initiative regionalindicatorsmn.com National Neighborhood Indicators neighborhoodindicators.org Chicago Green Score greenscore.es Sustainable Neighborhood Network sustainableneighborhoodnetwork.org Louisville Green Living louisvilleky.gov/government/brightside/ greenliving

Tool Selection Criteria Type and scale of built environment  New or existing  Neighborhood or community  Infrastructure network Decision-making context  Technical procedure  Public process  Advisory, celebratory, or regulatory

Tool Selection Criteria Comprehensiveness  Holistic rating: environmental, social, economic  Single-purpose or subset Minimum elements  Minimum quantities of land or buildings  Prohibited elements, e.g. reclaimed land

Suitability for intended users Tool  Technical expertise required selection  Suitability for non-technical users in a participatory criteria setting Rating timeframe  Preparation time, total overall time to obtain rating Costs  Membership, registration, filing fees  Certification review fees  Preparation of required documentation  Participation in review process

Tool Selection Criteria Rating procedure  Rating by: self-assessment, tool provider (2 nd party), independent reviewer (3 rd party)  Analog versus digital process  Documentation burden  On-site verification  Periodic re-exam to maintain rating

Tool Selection Criteria Rating criteria  Participants in formulation, transparency of process  Scoring and weighting basis  Mandatory versus optional  Prescriptive versus performance  Periodic updating to maintain technical currency  Locally-adaptable

Tool Selection Criteria Provider history and user support  Type of organization  History with tools  Dedicated staff & support services, e.g. training, credential Conformity with standards  International Standards Organization (ISO) standards  STAMP – Sustainability Assessment & Measurement Principles (IISD)

Tool Selection Criteria Tool maturity and market impact  Years of operation  Current generation of tool  Number of ratings performed Overall usefulness  Alignment of tool output with user objectives  Value proposition  Efficiency ratio: output benefits/input effort

Looking Ahead Rating tools with impact and endurance will:  Be affordability and efficient  Conform with standards  Produce verified results

Questions?

Eliot Allen, LEED AP-ND eliot@transformativetools.org Twitter @TransformTools