Environmental Sustainability Council
Regular MeetingFalls Church, VA · February 4, 2021
Minutes
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL
ENERGY TRANSISTION SUBCOMMITTEE
Thursday, February 4, 2020, Virtual Meeting via Microsoft Teams, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
APPROVED MINUTES
1. Attendees: Jon Ward (Chair), Mike Trauberman (ESC), Stacy Noblet. City Staff: Kate Walker
(ESC ETS Staff Liaison).
This meeting was held via electronic communications using ‘Microsoft Teams.’ This meeting was
held pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-
3708.2 and state and local legislation adopted to allow for continued government operation during
the COVID-19 declared emergency. (https://fallschurch-
va.granicus.com/player/clip/1435?view_id=2&redirect=true)
2. Voluntary Concessions: Attendees discussed the amendments to the Special Exception criteria
under consideration by City Council (TO26-20) and commented-on via the ESC’s 1/31/2021 memo
to the Planning Commission. Kate prioritized getting ‘sustainability’ and ‘resilience’ into the
primary criteria. We discussed meeting with City Council to present the idea of more ambitious
Voluntary Concessions to meet greenhouse-gas goals and gauge Council’s response.
Action Item #1: Jon will coordinate with the ESC Chair and draft an ETS memo to the appropriate
parties to clarify that the ESC’s recommendation for energy efficiency were intended to be relative
to the LEED baseline model. He will also discuss the suitability of including the WELL Building
Standard.
3. Electric Vehicles (EVs): In discussing Voluntary Concessions, Stacy noted that while Level 1
(110 V) chargers for residents in multi-family buildings for overnight charging may be sufficient,
newer, longer-range vehicles may need Level 2 to charge fast enough for owner’s needs. Also,
utilities are only incentivizing Level 2 chargers, which typically allow internet connectivity for
controllability. Attendees preferred separate voluntary concessions for residential and for
commercial parking spaces. Mike noted that Arlington’s Green Building criterion requires that 5%
of spaces have EVSE (EV Supply Equipment, i.e., charger) installed and another 10% be EVSE-
ready; and that these ratios are also from the LEED v4.1 Guidebook.
Action Item #2: Stacy will collect benchmarking info on the fraction of parking spaces with EV
requirements that other municipalities are imposing for residential and commercial development.
Attendees felt that a survey of potential vehicle buyers/lessees, discussed previously, would likely be
expensive if designed and conducted to obtain unbiased, statistically reliable results, but that it
doesn’t hurt to incorporate one into the City’s new EV webpage. Other possible EV-promotion
approaches were discussed: organizing a group-buy program; reaching out to local corporate
dealerships requesting info on EV-adoption criteria; outreach to learn from other small cities; getting
Electrify America or other organization to do outreach.
Action Item #3: Jon will forward a draft survey to ETS members.
Action Item #4: Jon will reach out to Electrify America.
4. Rooftop PV: Kate reported that sustainability professionals with several DC-area jurisdictions were
discussing regional solar co-ops (e.g., larger than the annual Arlington co-op).
5. January 2021 ETS Meeting Minutes: Approved unanimously.
6. Next Meeting
March 2021 meeting unconfirmed.
Thursday, April 1, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., likely virtual via Microsoft Teams.
Abbreviations / Terminology:
LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Agenda
Environmental Sustainability Council
Energy Transition Subcommittee
Meeting Agenda
Thursday, February 4, 2021 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Virtual Meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-
join/19%3ameeting_NzI2MjZiMTAtYTdkYy00YjExLTk5ZjQtOWYzMWYzMWNlNzQ3%40thread.v2/0?context=
%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2273ba5b04-4ace-4ae3-a6b2-65cbc403418b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2227fc222d-
adce-4816-a45e-bcf2b001d974%22%7d
NOTICE: This meeting will be held pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom of
Information Act, Section 2.2-3708.2 and state and local legislation adopted to allow for continued
government operation during the COVID-19 declared emergency. All participating members will be
present at this meeting through electronic means. All members of the public may view this electronic
meeting via the meeting link listed above and in the City’s website calendar.
Public comments may be submitted to kwalker@fallschurchva.gov until 7:00 p.m. on Thursday,
February 4th, 2021. All comments will be provided to the ESC Energy Transition Subcommittee
members and comments received by the deadline will be read during the meeting.
PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will be conducted using Microsoft Teams. Don't have the Teams
app? You can still join a Teams meeting. See the instructions attached to this meeting agenda.
Please email kwalker@fallschurchva.gov if you need assistance with installation. During the
meeting, staff will likely not be available to assist with installation.
1) Call to Order; Roll Call
2) Reading of Virtual Meeting Notice
3) Voluntary Concessions (VCs)
i) ESC input to Planning Commission re proposed changes to the Special Exceptions (SE)
ordinance
ii) Using VCs (e.g. Broad & Washington) to encourage deeper reductions in GHG
emissions.
iii) VCs for electric vehicles
4) Electric Vehicles: Charging Infrastructure; Survey
5) SCC-approved solar access programs
6) Review and Approval of January Minutes
7) Adjourn
Environmental Sustainability Council
Energy Transition Subcommittee
Staff Liaison: Kate Walker
(571) 581-9818,
kwalker@fallschurchva.gov
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