Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes Sustainability Commission Monday, August 20, 2018 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 7:03 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Council Liaison – Gustav Larsson (present) ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of July 16, 2018 Commissioner Kunz moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Commissioner Hafeman abstained as he was not present at the July meeting. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS Consideration of Vice Chair Wickham’s Recommendation that the City Council Sign the Elected Officials to Protect California’s Petition Urging the Governor to Commit to phasing out Fossil Fuel Production Chair Wickham provided an overview of the Petition, which urged Governor Brown to make a commitment and put forth a plan to phase out fossil fuels by ending issuance of permits for new fossil fuel production, facilitating a decline of fossil fuel City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes August 20, 2018 production including a buffer zone around occupied structures to protect human health, and committing to 100 percent renewable energy with a focus on disadvantaged communities. Commissioner Joesten observed that the petition does not specifically address existing oil and gas wells. Commissioner Zornetzer noted that despite this, shutting down new oil and gas production would at least allow renewable energy sources to catch up. Commissioner Hafeman observed that closing fossil fuel production may lead to higher imports of oil and gas; however, he was supportive and noted that this was a step in the right direction. Chair Paton opened the public hearing. No public comments were made. Chair Paton closed the public hearing. Chair Wickham moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion that the Sustainability Commission recommend to Councilmembers that they carefully review and sign the Petition to Urge Governor Brown to Commit to Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Production in California. The motion carried by the following votes: Chair Wickham agreed to represent the Commission’s motion at the Public Comments during the next Council Meeting on August 28, 2018. STANDING ITEM: CLIMATE ACTION PLAN (CAP 2.0) UPDATE Chair Wickham shared that the City had held the Innovate Climate Action – Pitch Event on July 30, 2018, at which eight ideas were pitched by their creators who received feedback from experts. Commissioners Kunz and Joesten added that the CAC had also discussed how to organize and systematically review the CAP 2.0 draft once it was made available. Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, noted that the CAP 2.0 timeline has shifted and that staff would be able to share an updated timeline in the upcoming weeks. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES Draft Study Issue: Mobility Strategy to Increase Transparency of Transportation Policies and Reduce Sunnyvale GHG emissions Chair Paton provided an overview of the draft Study Issue, noting that it was revised City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes August 20, 2018 to focus on transparency related to transportation policies. This Study Issue would serve to develop a broad strategy, identify clear data that represent transportation issues (e.g., percent of commuters and their modes of commute), and prepare for future mobility enhancements (e.g., autonomous vehicles, ride share programs). Chair Paton acknowledged that this Study Issue may be addressed by CAP 2.0 and that it could be dropped at a later meeting if other Study Issues were deemed more important by the Commission. Commissioner Joesten noted that the City’s influence was limited given that transportation is a regional problem. Commissioner Padgett observed that there is a regional mobility group that includes the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Menlo Park, and noted that Sunnyvale is not a part of it. Commissioner Kunz noted that it was important to address land use as a part of transportation solutions. Commissioner Hafeman, and the Commission generally agreed, suggested that the Study Issue must include an element to enhance the City’s effective participation in regional agencies, partnerships, and initiatives. Chair Paton and Commissioner Padgett will revise the Study Issue to incorporate the points discussed by the Commission. Proposed Study Issue: Require New Non-Residential Construction to Achieve Significant Improvements in Building Energy Performance Commissioners Zornetzer and Joesten provided an overview of the draft Study Issue, which includes elements to support the development of Zero Net Energy (ZNE) buildings as well as to actively monitor them to ensure they continue to be as efficient as originally designed. Commissioner Zornetzer clarified that the Study Issue pertains to both new and existing buildings and noted that he would revise the draft accordingly. Vice Chair Wickham asked whether the City was prepared to implementing the state’s 2020 mandate for all new residential buildings to be ZNE. Elaine Marshall, Environmental Programs Manager, clarified that the 2020 mandate will go into effect as a part of the 2019 state Building Code and that staff was monitoring the Building Code updates closely. Chair Paton observed that this Study Issue originally was requested by the Mayor on requiring solar on all new commercial developments. However, the Commission generally agreed that a broader approach was needed to address future emissions reductions from new buildings by requiring high performance without mandating the City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes August 20, 2018 approach to achieve this. Commissioner Hafeman noted that past efforts by the Commission to encourage commercial developers to go beyond green building minimum standards have not been promoted by staff. Ms. Marshall clarified that per the City’s Green Building Program, commercial buildings were required to meet a minimum standard that achieved the state’s CALGreen mandatory requirements and achieve LEED-Silver. In Moffett Park, commercial buildings can exceed their floor-to-area (FAR) by 15 percent or 20 percent by achieving LEED-Gold standards. Commissioner Zornetzer moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion to forward this Study Issue to Council, as amended by the comments recommended by Commissioners. The motion carried by the following vote: Proposed Study Issue: Encourage Adoption of Electric Vehicles Commissioner Kunz provided an overview of the Study Issue, which included an evaluation (including of costs) of policy options to encourage greater adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), to facilitate installation of more public and private EV chargers, and to educate the community on the benefits of EVs. He noted that this Study Issue may be dropped if this topic was adequately covered by CAP 2.0. Commissioner Joesten suggested including conversion to electric school buses in the Study Issues. Commissioner Kunz moved, and Chair Wickham seconded, a motion that the Commission sponsor this Study Issue. The motion carried by the following vote: Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy Vice Chair Wickham provided an overview her proposed Study Issue and pointed out similarities and differences between her proposal and previously proposed Study Issue, ESD-14-04, on Full Cost-Analysis and Carbon Pricing in City Operations. She noted her Study Issue would cover materials, travel policies, food, capital equipment (e.g., vehicle fleet), and City contracts with external vendor to ensure they had sustainability practices that aligned with the City’s practices. She observed that the City’s existing purchasing policy did include some environmental considerations but that there were opportunities for expansion. Chair Paton observed that Study Issue ESD 14-04 was intended to be a leading edge proposal that may be burdensome for City operations and that the current City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes August 20, 2018 proposal was more reasonable in its approach. The Commission discussed the benefits and drawbacks of including the concept of carbon pricing in the Study Issue. Chair Paton recommended providing viable examples of carbon pricing from leading cities, if available. Commissioner Hafeman noted that it would be critical to couple such a policy with an appropriate tool to enable an analysis of carbon while making purchasing decisions. Potential Study Issue: Developer Carbon Impact Fees Vice Chair Wickham provided an overview of the proposed Study Issue, which would incorporate an additional developer impact fee, similar to other fees charged by the City, based on the estimated carbon impact for construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed new development. The fee would incentivize developers to reduce the carbon impact of their proposed developments and revenue generated could fund both climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. Vice Chair Wickham cited the example of the City of Watsonville that has such a policy in place. Commissioner Padgett expressed that policies that allow developers an option to buy their way out of a policy were likely not beneficial and felt that incentives might be more effective. Commissioner Kunz recommended adding further details, particularly highlighting successes of other cities like Watsonville. Draft Study Issue: Reduce GHG Emissions from All Residential and Non-Residential Construction Commissioner Hafeman observed that this proposed Study Issue was duplicative with the proposed Study Issue on carbon impact fees for new developments. The Commission discussed how the City could focus policy initiatives to accelerate electrification to reduce GHGs, versus only achieving ZNE status. Commissioner Joesten suggested that the Study Issue include what can City do to focus on incentives. Commissioner Kunz will develop this Study Issue further. Potential Study Issue: Public-private Partnerships for Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Tests Commissioner Hafeman expressed that he was not too interested in this topic any City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes August 20, 2018 further for the FY18/19 cycle. He observed that a Councilmember shared that the City cannot engage with individual vendors of autonomous vehicles. He also shared that a Study Issue related to autonomous vehicles, CDD 18-04, had been ranked below the line by City Council. Vice Chair Wickham suggested mentioning autonomous vehicles in the Mobility Strategy Study Issue. Review Study Issue Topics Previously Proposed by the Sustainability Commission Staff clarified questions from the Commission related to the Study Issue process and shared that the Office of the City Manager is currently contemplating streamlining the process for reviewing and approval of Study Issues. Vice Chair Wickham moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion for the Commission to consider a Study Issue to consider a single-use plastics ban. The motion carried by the following vote: Commissioner Joesten moved, and Commissioner Hafeman, a motion for the Commission to consider a Study Issue to evaluate a parking pricing program. The motion carried by the following vote: Commissioner Kunz moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion for the Commission to consider a Study Issue to addressing the problem of non-recyclables in recycling carts. Staff will provide information on this topic at a subsequent meeting. The motion carried by the following vote: Chair Paton and Commissioner Hafeman abstained as they were uncertain whether this topic warrants a Study Issue. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Hafeman shared that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) website provides real-time data on exactly what the electricity mix is in their system. He observed that even in the middle of the duck curve, more electricity is City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes August 20, 2018 coming from natural gas fired power plants than from renewable. He observed that it would be helpful to gain a better understanding of this from SVCE. Commissioner Wickham announced that the City would be holding two public outreach meetings on the proposed updates to the Green Building Program on August 21, 2018. She also shared that the Global Climate Action Summit would be held during the week of September 10, 2018 in San Francisco, CA, with several affiliated events of interest open to the public during that week. Chair Paton shared information on two books that were of interest: (a) California Greenin’: How the Golden State Became and Environmental Leader by David Vogel, which highlights the evolution of environmental state policies in California; (b) The Green Bundle: Pairing the Market with the Planet by Magali Delmas, which examines how to disentangle the interest versus actual performance of the public in being green, noting that maximum environmental consciousness is observed when other co-benefits are highlighted. -Staff Comments Nupur Hiremath announced several upcoming events: (a) a screening of the documentary Straws, highlighting the environmental impact of plastic straws, at the Sunnyvale Public Library, August 27, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.; (b) Coastal Cleanup Day on September 15, 2018 at 9:00 a.m.; and (c) State of the City, September 15 at 10 a.m. in downtown Sunnyvale. Commissioners would receive a separate invitation to attend the Board/Commission reception as a part of the State of the City event. She also shared that Chip Taylor, Director of Public Works, would provide a presentation on the City’s transportation programs and policies at the October meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7