Sustainability Committee

Sustainability Committee Minutes Thursday, June 13, 2024 8:00 A.M. VIA ZOOM PURSUANT TO CHAPTERS 113 AND 115 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES (AS AMENDED IN ORDINANCE 22-28), AND RESOLUTION 22-29, ENACTED ON MARCH 22, 2022 Members Present: Kim Bixenstine, Council Member, Committee Chair Tenille Kaus, Council Member Nancy Moore, Council Member Shanna Keown, Citizen Member Norman Robbins, Citizen Member Others Present: Jeri E. Chaikin, Chief Administrative Officer Reid Coffman, Professor, Kent State University Lora Cover, Shaker Heights City School Board Jeff Grosse, Chief Operating Officer, Shaker Heights City Schools Jeff Isaacs, Advisor to Shaker Heights City School Board Joshua Romig, Shaker Heights Public Library Community Engagement Librarian Michael Peters, Sustainability Coordinator The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Kim Bixenstine at 8:04 A.M. * * * * Approval of the May 9, 2024 Meeting Minutes The draft meeting minutes (amended for previous comments) were presented for approval with the motion moved by Nancy Moore and seconded by Tenille Kaus. The acceptance of the minutes was unanimously passed. * * * * Developing Urban Climate Districts in Sweden and The Netherlands Professor (and resident) Reid Coffman, the Director of the Novel Ecology Lab at Kent State University presented examples of Soft Cities: Developing urban climate districts in Sweden and the Netherlands from his research. His background is in landscape architecture and urban ecology with a particular expertise in green roofs. Examples of green roofs, some local, were presented and how they create an urban ecology and disburse native seeds for propagation. Moving to Europe, the first example was a vertical garden on the façade of an apartment building in Milan. This introduced the concept of creating ecologies as part of the built environment and biophilia, or the instinctive bond we have with other forms of life. Next examples of districts using these living architecture concepts were presented. The first was Strips-S in Eindhoven (Netherlands) and the redevelopment of the original Philips Electronics facility. This includes adaptive re-use of former industrial buildings and the development of a new building for affordable housing that includes the living architecture concepts like the Milan example. There is one building with a vertical forest and others that include a birch forest as a green community roof. In Sweden an example is in Malmö and called Västra Hamnen. Transportation systems are multi-modal and supported by train and bicycle networks in addition to cars. This was an industrial shipyard that is being redeveloped for families and retirees. It will house 20,000 people in less than one square mile. The district is composed of several neighborhoods, with an example from the Varvsstaden neighborhood, a reclaimed harbor. While dense the district is not busy due to multiple transportation modes, with pedestrians as a priority. A secret to this is about 18 feet of area reserved on either side of the roadways for pedestrians and cyclists, then another 12 feet of barrier with plantings separating the vehicular traffic. Bike lanes are never in the road. The district has a requirement for living roofs or architecture for buildings. There are a number of building elevations to provide variety and views over the green roofs, which can be private and some are sedum while others support a combination of green roofs and solar. An example was given of the Oh Boy Hotel Bostad in the Kappesglaren neighborhood of the district. It is a combination of hotel (or what we would consider a motel as all access is from the exterior) on the ground floor and then apartments above. All hotel rooms come with a bicycle and there is a community roof. All of the access is through outdoor hallways, creating additional community spaces. The buildings are designed to zero lot lines (as there are many parks and gardens) and the Oh Boy has no parking as part of the development. Questions and comments included: • Kim Bixenstine asked about who maintains the plantings; they are maintained by a vendor through the homeowners association. It is a new workforce being developed. It is not the municipality. The maintenance fees for this type of feature in public buildings is capitalized into the initial cost and financing. • Nancy Moore asked about solar and living architecture and the potential for compromising parking; living roofs and solar are very complementary as they create increased efficiencies in solar. Reducing road demand is also key. • Kim Bixenstine asked if they also do this for schools; yes, especially the Dutch who also will use them as part of the curriculum. Another big benefit to green roofs is that it extends the life of the roofing membrane by roughly 3 times (not well known in the US, maybe due to the roofing industry). Are we seeing some examples in the US; yes, there are a number locally but there about 20 cities with green roof policies although doing it at the district level is probably better public policy. It becomes an amenity that drives demand and there are good cost benefit calculators (e.g., San Francisco Better Roofs). • Jeff Isaacs asked about multi-modal transportation and resistance to it in the US, are there district options? A little outside Reid Coffman’s area of expertise but he noted how the Dutch are ahead in this area, with Utrecht as an example. * * * * Sustainability Committee June 13, 2024 Page 2 of 4 Shaker Heights City Schools Updates The meeting was attended by Jeff Grosse, the Chief Operating Officer of the City schools and Lora Cover, a board member. The Schools are in the process of contracting for a composting program in the five elementary schools in the District. Where they have seen success is when there is an all-school assembly explaining the importance of composting and a process for the logistics of collection and depositing it into the bin collected by Rust Belt Riders. The District will pay for the composting in the elementary schools. There has been a lot of discussion on how to make it work in the Middle School and High School, but more discussion is needed to determine the process. A question was asked on how the PTOs will know and Jeff Grosse indicated he would tell them. Kim Bixenstine noted how the City will fund the Lomond Community Composting Pilot for the remainder of the year and is looking at expansion possibilities for 2025, including potentially working with neighboring communities. A community wide program could be roughly $100,000 per year. The Schools are estimating about $2,000 per school per year. The Schools are looking into sustainability beyond just the facilities and have started to interview sustainability consultants. Funding through the State requires LEED Silver but the District is looking at a broader sustainability effort. There was an eco-charette for Ludlow School’s renovation and for the master facilities plan. Tenille Kaus asked about composting at the private schools in the City. Michael Peters noted that Hathaway Brown, which has a sustainability-focused faculty member, has been composting for some time but he would look into the other two schools and report back. * * * * Subcommittee Updates Stormwater & Greenspace (Michael Peters) • Electric Lawn Mower Rebate Program was held in May. Already 20 of the 24 rebates have been processed. • The Grow Not Mow event on April 13th was featured in Cleveland.com. Future efforts include a program with Hawken School and events to remove additional invasives at various locations. • Lower Shaker Lake dam construction feedback was discussed at the meeting along with composting (as discussed above). • Pesticide/herbicide use on treelawns was also brought up at the meeting and was suggested by resident Kathy Smachlo; Kim Bixenstine discussed a potential article in Shaker Life and the legal aspects of banning use on treelawns (which is still being researched, determining if considered public or private property due to pre-emption at state level on prohibitions on private property). Energy Subcommittee (Norman Robbins) • Working on a program for an ongoing information resource for how homeowners can get home energy audits. Working with the Home Repair and Resource Center. • Looking into solar on City buildings, more to come. Sustainability Committee June 13, 2024 Page 3 of 4  • Air quality monitors have been ordered and expected to ship soon. * * * * Chair’s Remarks/Old Business/New Business • It was suggested that the Schools’ sustainability consultant be invited to present at a future meeting; potentially August. * * * * There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 A.M. The next meeting is scheduled for July 11, 2024 at 8:00am. __________________________________________ Michael Peters Sustainability Coordinator Sustainability Committee June 13, 2024 Page 4 of 4