o0221-16
Planning, Green Building Codes - Better Roof Requirements, Including Living Roofs
San Francisco Planning Code · Ord. No. 0221-16
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AMENDED IN COMMITTEE FILE NO. 160965 10/17/2016 ORDINANCE NO. 221-16 [Planning, Green Building Codes - Better Roof Requirements, Including Living Roofs] Ordinance amending the Planning Code and Green Building Code to establish requirements for certain new building construction facilitating development of renewable energy facilities and living roofs; setting an operative date of January 1, 2017; providing findings as to local conditions pursuant to the California Health and Safety Code; affirming the Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; and making findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1. NOTE: Unchanged Code text and uncodified text are in plain Arial font. Additions to Codes are in single-underline italics Times New Roman font. Deletions to Codes are in strikethrough italics Times }/cw Roman font. Board amendment additions are in double-underlined Arial font. Board amendment deletions are in strikethrough Arial font. Asterisks (* * * *) indicate the omission of unchanged Code subsections or parts of tables. Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco: Section 1. CEQA Findings and General Plan Consistency Findings. (a) The Planning Department has determined that the actions contemplated in this ordinance comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources Code Sections 21000 et seq.). Said determination is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 160965 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board affirms this determination. (b) On September 15, 2016, the Planning Commission, in Resolution No. 19734, adopted findings that the actions contemplated in this ordinance are consistent, on balance, with the City's General Plan and eight priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1. The Supervisors Wiener; Cohen, Mar BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 1 Board adopts these findings as its own. A copy of said Resolution is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 160965, and is incorporated herein by reference. (c) Pursuant to Planning Code Section 302, this Board finds that this Planning Code Amendment will serve the public necessity, convenience, and welfare for the reasons set forth in Planning Commission Resolution No. 19734 and the Board incorporates such reasons herein by reference. Section 2. General Findings. (a) The California Building Standards Code is contained in Title 24 of the California 1 O Code of Regulations, and consists of several parts that are based upon model codes with amendments made by various State agencies. The California Green Building Standards Code, also known as the CALGreen Code, is Part 11 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, and San Francisco has enacted the San Francisco Green Building Code as amendments to the California Green Building Standards Code. (b) Local jurisdictions are required to enforce the California Green Building Standards Code, but they may also enact more stringent standards when reasonably necessary because of local conditions caused by climate, geology, or topography. (c) The Building Inspection Commission considered the applicable sections of this ordinance at a duly noticed public hearing on September 21, 2016. The Commission on the Environment considered the applicable sections of this ordinance at a duly noticed public hearing on _____ _ Section 3. Findings Regarding Local Conditions Required by the California Health and Safety Code. Supervisors Wiener; Cohen, Mar BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 2 (a) California Health & Safety Code Section 17958. 7 provides that before making any changes or modifications to the California Green Building Standards Code and any other applicable provisions published by the State Building Standards Commission, the governing body must make an express finding that each such change or modification is reasonably necessary because of specified local conditions, and the findings must be filed with the State Building Standards Commission before the local changes or modifications go into effect. (b) The Board of Supervisors expressly declares that the following amendments to the San Francisco Green Building Code are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, topological, and geological conditions as listed below. 1 O (1) As a coastal city located on the tip of a peninsula, San Francisco is vulnerable to sea level rise, and human activities releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere cause increases in worldwide average temperature, which contribute to melting of glaciers and thermal expansion of ocean water - resulting in rising sea levels. (2) San Francisco is already experiencing the repercussions of excessive C02 emissions as rising sea levels threaten the City's shoreline and infrastructure, have caused significant erosion, increased impacts to infrastructure during extreme tides, and have caused the City to expend funds to modify the sewer system. (3) Some people in San Francisco, such as the elderly, may be particularly vulnerable to higher temperatures resulting from climate changes. (4) Installing solar photovoltaic and thermal facilities will help San Francisco meet its goals under Board of Supervisors Ordinance No. 81-08 to have a greenhouse gas-free electric system by 2030 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Citywide to 40% below 1990 levels by 2025 and 80% below 1990 levels below by 2050. (5) Living roofs mitigate urban heat islands, improve building insulation, and moderate temperature near ventilation intake vents, each result contributing to reductions in Supervisors Wiener; Cohen, Mar BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page3 building energy use and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. Living roofs also reduce stormwater entering the sewer system, provide habitat supporting ecological systems, and enhance urban connections between humans and nature. (6) Living roofs and solar energy systems are compatible uses that can be combined on the same rooftop; the combination of the two systems can be complementary, improving the environmental benefits of each. (7) It is reasonably necessary to require building owners to take steps to reduce the energy consumed by inefficient building operations and produce renewable, low-carbon g electricity, capture solar heat, or develop living roofs in order to reduce pollution, benefit 1 O biodiversity, improve resilience to climate change by reducing localized heat islands, and reduce the global warming effects of energy consumption. (6) Installing solar heating or solar energy systems benefits the health, welfare, and resiliency of San Francisco and its residents. (c) Requiring solar water heating, solar photovoltaics, and living roofs at the time of new construction is more cost-effective than installing the equipment after construction because workers are already on-site, permitting and administrative costs are lower, and it is more cost-effective to include such systems in existing construction financing. Based upon the findings of a cost-effectiveness study performed on the more stringent local standards contained in Board of Supervisors Ordinance No. 71-16, which established rooftop renewable energy requirements for certain new buildings, the Board of Supervisors determined that installing on-site renewable energy systems is cost-effective based on the analysis contained in Board of Supervisors File No. 160154, and saves more energy than the standards contained in the 2016 California Green Building Standards (CALGreen) Code (CCR Title 24, Part 11) and the 2016 California Energy Standards (CCR Title 24, Part 6). The proposed amendments to the 2016 San Francisco Green Building Code in this ordinance provide for Supervisors Wiener; Cohen, Mar BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page4 living roofs as an additional option for compliance, and do not constitute an additional energy requirement beyond Board of Supervisors Ordinance No. 71-16. Section 4. The San Francisco Planning Code is hereby amended by adding Section 149 and revising Section 307, to read as follows: SEC. 149. BETTER ROOFS,· LIVING ROOF ALTERNATIVE. (a) Purpose. State law requires that certain new residential and nonresidential buildings set aside a "solar ready" portion o[the roof equal to 15% o[the total roof area. The solar ready area must be unshaded and free of obstructions, to allow that portion o[the roo[to be used for fitture installation ofsolar energy or heating svstems. The San Francisco Green Building Code requires a building owner to actually use the solar ready area ofthe roof.for solar energy or heating systems. The purpose of this Section 149 is to allow the use of "living roofs" as an additional means of meeting some or all ofthe Better Roofrequirements of the Green Building Code, and thereby fitrther promote the use of rooftops to increase renewable energy resources, stormwater management, and biodiversity. (b) Definitions. As used in this Section 149, the following capitalized terms shall have the fOllowing meanings: Better Roof Requirements. The requirements of San Francisco Green Building Code Sections 4.201.2 and 5.201.1.2, as amended. Living Roof The media for growing plants, as well as the set of related components installed exterior to a facility's roofing membrane. "Living Roof' includes both "roofgardens" and "landscaped roofs" as referenced in the California Building Code. Living Roof Area. The area of media for growing plants installed for the purposes of compliance with this Section, consistent with standards prepared and maintained by the Planning Department for planning. installation, and maintenance of Living Roofs. Supervisors Wiener; Cohen, Mar BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 5 Minimum Better Roof Area. An equivalent area to the Solar Re adv Zone, as calculated under CCR Title 24, Part 6, Section 110.10 and San Francisco Green Building Code Sections 4.201.2 and 5.201.1.2, as applicable. Roof All outside coverings of a building or structure, including the structural supports, decking. and top !aver exposed to the outside, at all levels of building. excluding roof area designated for skylights, vehicle traffic, or heliport. Solar Ready Zone. A section oft he roof designated and reserved for the installation of a solar electric or solar thermal system as required in certain new buildings by CCR Title 24, Part 6, Section 110.lO(b) through (e) and San Francisco Green Building Code Sections 4.201.2 and 5.201.1.2, as applicable. (c) Applicability. A project sponsor may use a Living Roof as an alternative means of meeting some or all ofthe Better Roofrequirements for any building that meets all four of the following criteria: fil The building constitutes a Large Development Project or Small Development Project under the Stormwater Management Ordinance (Public Works Code secs. 147-147. 6); (2) The building has a gross floor area of2,000 square feet or more,· (3) The building has 10 or fewer occupied floors; and Lil_ The project sponsor applies (or a site permit or buildingpermit on or after January l, 2017. (d) Living Roof Requirements. Should a project sponsor use a Living Roof as a means of meeting some or all of the Better Roofrequirements, the sponsor shall submit to the Planning Department for its review and approval a Living Roof design in which the sum oft he areas oft he (allowing features is equal to or greater than the Minimum Better Roof Area: (1) Area of all solar photovoltaic collectors that meet the performance criteria oft he San Francisco Green Building Code (secs. 4.201.2(c)(l) and 5.201. l.2(b)(l V. as appropriate,· Supervisors Wiener; Cohen, Mar BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page6 (2) Area of all solar thermal collectors that meet the performance criteria o[the San Francisco Green Building Code (secs. 4.201.2(c){2) and 5.201.1.2(b)(2V, as appropriate,· and (3) Area and Location of Living Roof (A) For the purpose ofthis Section 149, each square foot of Living Roof shall count as 0. 5 square foot towards the Minimum Better Roof Area requirements,· provided, however, that the actual square footage ofthe Living Roof shall be used to determine compliance with the Stormwater Management Ordinance. The Planning Department, after consulting with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Department of the Environment, shall adopt rules and regulations to implement these provisions and coordinate compliance with the Stormwater 1 O Management Ordinance. {B) A Living Roof may be located within or outside o[the Solar Ready Zone used for compliance with CCR Title 24, Part 6, Section 110.10. Where a Living Roof Area is located outside the Solar Ready Zone, the requirements of Section 110.10 for the solar zone shall otherwise still fll212k (e) Waiver. 