Policy Order O-19

WHEREAS: The U.S. Conference of Mayors has previously adopted strong policy resolutions for cities, communities, and the federal government to take actions to reduce fossil fuel consumption and global warming pollution; and

WHEREAS: The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international community’s most respected assemblage of scientists, has found that climate disruption responsible for increasing concentrations of global warming pollution; and

WHEREAS: The U.S. Building Sector has been shown to be the major consumer of fossil fuel and producer of global warming causing greenhouse gasses; and

WHEREAS: The federal government through programs fostered within may of its key agencies and numerous state governments as well as municipalities across the U.S. have adopted high performance green building principles; and

WHEREAS: A recent study completed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the most definitive cost-benefit analysis of green buildings ever conducted, concluded that the financial benefits of green design are between $50 and $70 per square foot, for more than 10 times the additional cost associated with building green; and

WHEREAS: The large positive impact on employee productivity and health gains suggest that green building has a cost-effective impact beyond just the utility bill savings; and

WHEREAS: Studies have indicated that student attendance and performance is higher in high performance school buildings; and

WHEREAS: Recognizing that a building’s initial construction costs represent only 20-30 percent of the building’s entire costs over its 30-40 year life, emphasis should be placed on the “life cycle costs” of a public building rather than on solely its initial capital costs; and

WHEREAS: The construction industry in the U.S. represents a significant portion of our economy and a significant portion of the building industry is represented by small business and an increase in sustainable building practices will encourage and promote new and innovative small business development throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS: The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the national professional organization representing architects has adopted a position statement calling for the immediate energy reduction of all new and renovated buildings to one half the national average for that building type, with increased reductions of 10% every five years so that by the year 2030 all buildings designed will be carbon neutral, meaning they will use no fossil fuel energy; and

WHEREAS: The U.S. Conference of Mayors has resolved to encourage its members to adopt the following “2030 Challenge” for building performance targets:

WHEREAS: The U.S. Conference of Mayors has resolved to work to increase the fossil-fuel reduction standard for all new buildings to carbon neutral by 2030, in the following increments:

RESOLVED: That the Cambridge City Council go on record supporting the efforts of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in its “2030 Challenge” for building performance targets; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to the U.S. Conference of Mayors on behalf of the entire City Council.