Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Monday, June 19, 2017 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 7:01 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Bruce Paton Vice Chair Amit Srivastava Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Petya Kisyova Commissioner Kristel Wickham Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Council Liaison - Gustav Larsson (present); Larry Klein (arrived late) PRESENTATION 17-0663 PRESENTATION - Recognition of Service Mayor Hendricks thanked the Sustainability Commission for their services and recognized the important role and value the Commission provides for the City Council and the community. Mayor Hendricks presented Chair Paton with a Certificate of Appreciation for this four years of service on the Sustainability Commission. STUDY SESSION 17-0664 Input on Sustainability Features for the Civic Center Master Plan (Study Session) Kent Steffens, Assistant City Manager and Civic Center Master Plan Project Manager, introduced the team from SmithGroup JJR, the City’s Civic Center Master Planning consultant. The SmithGroup JJR team briefly presented information on City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final June 19, 2017 the vision and goals that have been adopted for the Civic Center, including that the new City Hall will achieve a LEED Platinum rating. The SmithGroup JJR team gathered ideas from the Sustainability Commission on what sustainable design features should be considered for the new Civic Center site. The Commission’s ideas included: (1) Model site as a demonstration site, a place where the community can learn about how to build sustainable projects cost effectively; (2) Consider cost effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) over the life of the facilities; (3) Apply a Zero Net Energy or Net Positive approach to the entire site, not just to the City Hall building (clarified that ZNE is considered as energy use, not energy cost); (4) Design the site to function as a “mini-city within a city” and, as such, be a “smart” city that demonstrates what is possible with new technologies for monitoring and optimizing site/building performance; (5) Specify stretch goals for this iconic site; (6) Prioritize on-site renewables; (7) Prevent stormwater runoff from the site; all stormwater should be captured and reused or allowed to infiltrate; (8) Consider greywater reuse for non-potable uses; (9) Maximize community transportation choices for getting to Civic Center – ample bike parking, access to public transportation or shuttles, majority of parking spaces for EV charging stations, clear and convenient; “drop-off” locations for ride sharing and future autonomous cars; (9) Apply Transportation Demand Management (TDM) to site and City employees; (10) Make the site a resilient site; self-sufficient (uses the water that falls on it and the sun that shines on it); also, during times of natural disaster, site can also provide energy, water, and safe gathering; (11) Design site to allow for work-flexibility for City staff; and (11) Implement efficient and cost effective ventilation and innovative lighting control to maximize employee health and wellness. Tim Oey, Sunnyvale resident, stated that he supports the Commission’s recommendations and that the City could strive to build a Civic Center that can last several hundred years. Deborah Marks, Sunnyvale resident, spoke about the need to minimize pollutant release during demolition of the existing site and inquired about how mature trees on the site would be protected. She suggested that the wood from trees on the existing site be re-purposed and used in the new Civic Center (such as for benches or art), if trees could not be protected or relocated. Betsy Megas, Santa Clara resident, emphasized the importance of getting transportation and “place making” right and offered a reminder that lots of low tech and invisible features can make a building efficient. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final June 19, 2017 Mei-Ling Stefan, Sunnyvale resident, emphasized the importance of trees on the site for stormwater and carbon storage and that efforts should be made to preserve as many trees as possible. She recommended that the City provide shuttles between Civic Center, Community Center, and CalTrain, and implement a TDM program for City employees. Ralph Kenton, Sunnyvale resident, emphasized the importance of keeping the “warm” feeling of the area, ensuring that the new Civic Center is welcoming, and that electric heat pumps be used in the buildings. PRESENTATION 17-0662 PRESENTATION - FoodCycle: Sunnyvale Residential Food Scraps Collection Program Mark Bowers, Solid Waste Division Manager; Karen Gissibl, Environmental Programs Manager; and Lisa Coelho, Zero Waste Program Coordinator, presented information on the roll-out and launch of the FoodCycle Program. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the program plans, processing of food waste, and community outreach efforts. Staff also provided the Commission with the Frequently Asked Questions and other materials. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Tim Oey, Sunnyvale resident, shared that he recently completed Climate Ride and raised over $8,000 personally and the whole group raised over $535,000. Mr. Oey encouraged the Commissioners to participate in future Climate Rides and offered to lead bike-tours for anyone who was interested. CONSENT CALENDAR 1 17-0669 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of May 15, 2017 Commissioner Kisyova moved, and Commissioner Wickham seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final June 19, 2017 PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 17-0665 Review of Commissioner Presentation Topics and Assignments in Work Plan The Commission discussed upcoming Commissioner Led Presentations and agreed several changes, including adding Best Practices related to Sea Level Rise (Chair Paton) and moving the following items to the To Be Scheduled List: • Leading Edge Building Code Practices (Chair Paton and Commissioner Kisyova) • Leading Edge Transportation Practices (lead TBD) • Leading Edge Residential Energy Efficiency (lead TBD) Commissioner Wickham confirmed that she will present on Best Practices for Funding CAP Implementation at the Commission’s July meeting. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 3 17-0666 Draft Study Issue: How to improve Traffic Flow through the City of Sunnyvale Commissioner Kisyova proposed Study Issue that would focus on (1) how to reduce air pollution by improving the traffic flow through the City of Sunnyvale by using the existing infrastructure more efficiently? (2) How to create “smarter” streets by providing better intersection control? The Commissioners discussed the intent of the proposed study. Councilmember Larsson informed the Commission that the City is in the process of rolling out a state-of-the-art, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in key areas of the City that would enable centralized and adaptive control of traffic signals to improve flow of traffic. Staff will inquire about an update on the project and possible tour of the traffic management center that has been installed in City Hall. The Commission determined that since the City was already working on it, no action was needed at present on the proposed Study Issue. 4 17-0667 Draft Study Issue: No-cause Evictions and Rent Control Housing Vice Chair Srivastava described a potential study to look at establishing an ordinance that would prohibit no-cause evictions and rent controls. Vice Chair Srivastava justified this as a sustainability issue because renters who are priced out of Sunnyvale would be forced to commute longer distances for work. Staff provided a copy of the approved 2017 Study Issue on housing strategies City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final June 19, 2017 (CDD 17-09). The Commission will review CDD 17-09 to determine if the scope of that study will address the concerns and intent of the Study Issue proposed by Vice Chair Srivastava. The Commission expressed interest in reviewing the final report for Study Issue CDD 17-09 and asked if the Sustainability Commission could be added as an expected participant in the study process. Staff will look into the Commission’s request. No action on the proposed Study Issue was taken. New Study Issue Topics Chair Paton moved, and Commissioner Kisyova seconded, a motion to place on the next meeting agenda a discussion of a potential Study Issue to evaluate changes to City policies and ordinances to encourage and enable heat pump technology. Commissioner Wickham supported the motion and noted that she has already drafted a potential study issue on this topic. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Commissioner Hafeman moved, and Commission Kisyova seconded, a motion to place on the next meeting agenda a discussion of a potential Study Issue to evaluate reducing the speed limit on all streets that are currently over 30 mph to no more than 30 mph for bike and pedestrian safety. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final June 19, 2017 Commissioner Kisyova recognized the success of the first Sustainability Speaker Series event. Chair Paton reported that he attended the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s Energy and Sustainability Summit, which included a panel on the future of autonomous vehicles. He noted thatan Aspen Institute Study shows that automobile ownership has peaked and is now declining due to self-driving cars. Commissioner Wickham reviewed evaluation highlights from the first Sustainability Speaker Series event, including that over 70 individuals attended and most found the information presented useful. The next event is scheduled for August 2, 2017 and publicity will begin at the end of June. Councilmember Larsson also thought the event was very successful, felt the outreach was great as he received multiple emails from different sources about the event, and shared that one improvement would be to be more insistent about use of the microphone for the Q&A. Commissioner Wickham also recommended a film on biophilic design, which highlights that designing with natural materials and reflections of nature have been shown to include productivity, improved healing, and improved learning. The topic seems to align well with the Civic Center Master Plan discussion. A link will be shared after the meeting. Councilmember Klein thanked Councilmember Larsson for sitting in on the Commission meeting as he had a conflict with the first part of the meeting and shared that this will be his last meeting as the Council Liaison. Councilmember Klein recognized the good work of the Commission. -Staff Comments Elaine Marshall, Environmental Programs Manager, reported that the City Council approved the staff recommendation related to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programming and that HERO was unable to sign the City’s Letter of Agreement and was, therefore, not authorized. Ms. Marshall also reported the City Council meeting on the following day (June 20, 2017) would include a Proclamation reaffirming the City’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and that the City Council would be considering the formation of the CAP 2.0 Community Advisory Committee and approval of the Green Infrastructure Master Plan Framework. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:26 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6