Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Monday, July 18, 2016 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Paton called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 4 - Chair Bruce Paton Vice Chair Amit Srivastava Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Kristel Wickham Absent: 3 - Commissioner Brian Glazebrook Commissioner Petya Kisyova Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Commissioners Glazebrook's, Kisyova's, and Zornetzer's absences are excused. Council Liaison – Pat Meyering (absent) PRESENTATION 1 16-0717 Silicon Valley Clean Energy Update Melody Tovar, Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) Operations Manager, provided an update on SVCE’s implementation plan, which was submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in early July. Next steps in the program include finalizing power supply contracts by November 2016, setting rates in January 2017, and rolling out the program to residents in participating Santa Clara County jurisdictions starting April 2017. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Walter McIntyre, a Sunnyvale resident, commended SVCE’s efforts. He City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 18, 2016 commented that PG&E must provide a transparent process for true-up billing. While supporting the installation of a photovoltaic system at a Sunnyvale school, he observed that PG&E charged true-up charges within two months of installing the system, which wiped out one-third of the benefits of this initiative. CONSENT CALENDAR 2 16-0684 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of June 20, 2016 Chair Paton pulled the draft June 20, 2016 minutes from the consent calendar and requested that they be amended to accurately reflect Commissioner’s Glaser’s years of service on the Commission and to correct a typo on page 4. Vice Chair Srivastava moved and Commissioner Hafeman seconded a motion to approve the June 20, 2016 meeting minutes as amended. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Glazebrook Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Zornetzer Abstain: 1 - Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Wickham abstained as she was not present at the June meeting. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 3 16-0740 Forward a recommendation to the City Council to Introduce an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 19.56 (Alternative Energy Systems) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code related to the Solar Access Requirements Study Issue (2016-7279), and Find that the Action is Exempt from CEQA. Amber Blizinski, Principal Planner, provided a summary of findings from Solar Access Requirements Study Issue (CDD 16-13), which was sponsored by the Planning Commission. Based on the findings, staff recommends amending Chapter 19.56 “Alternate Energy Systems” of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code to define solar access criteria based on solar cycle analysis instead of an analysis based only on the shortest day of the year (i.e., December 21). City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 18, 2016 The Commission asked clarification questions about the study. Commissioner Hafeman commended Sunnyvale’s efforts in this area, noting that the City is leading the nation with regard to solar access. The Commission provided the following comments on the report: (1) Evaluating shading at 3 p.m. seems too early in the day, as there should be abundant light at that hour on most days; (2) In certain seasons, the direction of the sun may be Northeast-Northwest or Southeast-Southwest., which may make a difference in the shading; (3) The shading analysis should include two time points (8 a.m. and 6 p.m.) to reflect 2 hours after sunrise and before sundown, respectively, on longest day in the year (i.e., June 21) in addition to the currently used shortest day analysis. Commissioner Hafeman moved and Commissioner Srivastava seconded a motion to recommend that Council accept the staff recommendation (Option A) of the report, with the following modifications: (1) step 1 should include an evaluation of the percent of shading on adjacent roofs at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on June 21, in addition to the currently required December 21 evaluation at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.; (2) the required solar cycle calculation in step 2 should be adjusted linearly throughout the solar cycle to better simulate the impact of shading. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wickham No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Glazebrook Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Zornetzer 4 16-0716 Sustainability Speaker Series Coordination The Commission discussed working with Sunnyvale Cool to tap into their experience in coordinating speaker events. Potential topics of interest for the Speaker Series discussed by the Commission included: renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction; transportation; land use and housing; estimating carbon footprints; smart growth; greywater systems; zero net energy; and adaptation to climate change. City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 18, 2016 Commissioner Wickham inquired whether the speaker events could include movie screenings; staff will follow-up on this question at a subsequent meeting. Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, clarified that staff would support logistics and conduct outreach for the speaker events. John Stufflebean also noted that Cynthia Bojorquez, Director of Library and Community Services, has offered to help with this effort and could provide ideas for publicity and logistics. Chair Paton opened the public hearing. Walter McIntyre noted that the banner at the intersection of Wolfe Rd and El Camino Real should be made an electronic display board that announces such events. In addition, the City should look into using Sunnyvale’s TV channel for publicity for such events. Chair Paton closed the public hearing. Chair Paton proposed the formation of a subcommittee to: (1) design a plan for developing and implementing the Speaker Series, including number of events, potential topics, speakers, and venues; and (2) reach out to Sunnyvale Cool to initiate potential partnership. John Stufflebean, Director of Environmental Services, clarified that the Commission may form an ad hoc subcommittee to facilitate the study of Council-directed or staff-requested initiatives; the subcommittee would only exist for the duration of the project. Vice Chair Srivastava requested that staff further clarify the process for the formation of the subcommittee and inquired whether staff would be able to support such meetings. Nupur Hiremath will confer with City Clerk and provide clarification accordingly. 5 16-0715 Election of Officers The Commission asked if it was possible to postpone this item until the following Commission meeting, to allow the Commissioners who were not in attendance an opportunity to participate in the elections for Chair and Vice Chair. Nupur Hiremath explained that the elections would need to occur at this meeting as training for the Chair and Vice Chair was tentatively scheduled to be held at the end of July. Chair Paton opened nominations for the office of Chair. Commissioner Hafeman nominated Chair Paton. Chair Paton closed nominations for the office of Chair. The Commission voted as follows: City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 18, 2016 Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wickham No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Glazebrook Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Zornetzer Chair Paton opened nominations for the office of Vice Chair. Commissioner Wickham nominated Vice Chair Srivastava. Chair Paton closed nominations for the office of Vice Chair. The Commission voted as follows: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wickham No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Glazebrook Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Zornetzer STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 6 16-0714 Draft Study Issue: Solar-Ready Roofs Vice Chair Srivastava summarized the proposed draft study issue, which is intended to examine the feasibility of requiring developers of new residential and commercial construction to: (1) install either a solar photovoltaic system, solar water heating panels, or living vegetation on the roof; and (2) set aside a minimum portion of the roof as “solar ready” (i.e., without shading). He noted that the percentage of the roof that would need to be un-shaded roof would need to be determined by staff as a part of the study issue. Chair Paton recommended that the draft study issue language be revised to: (1) clarify the intent of the study issue as described verbally by Vice Chair Srivastava at this meeting; (2) use the term “solar-capable” instead of “solar-ready”; and (3) include industrial developments. Nupur Hiremath suggested reviewing the City of City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 18, 2016 San Francisco ordinance on the same issue for further clarity. Vice Chair Srivastava will revise the draft study issue for discussion at the next meeting. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Chair Paton noted that he attended the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s 2016 Energy and Sustainability Summit in June. Topics covered included: (1) trend in shifting away from other energy sources to electricity generated from renewable sources; and (2) carbon-negative power plants. Commissioner Hafeman shared his observations from his recent efforts at his home to convert gas use to electricity, such as replacing a gas powered water heater with a heat pump hot water heater. Commissioner Wickham attended a workshop on greywater systems and noted that while such systems offered water savings, they did not offer cost-savings. Commissioner Srivastava noted that he is considering using his swimming pool for rainwater harvesting. -Staff Comments John Stufflebean announced that the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) kicked off its first construction project in July, which is the largest infrastructure project the City has seen to date. Nupur Hiremath reviewed the proposed items for the August agenda per the Commission’s Work Plan, which will include the residential food scraps collection program report and potentially the Land Use and Transportation Element (LUTE). ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm. City of Sunnyvale Page 6