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MEMORANDUM To: City of Saint Anthony Village Parks & Environmental Commission From: Minette Saulog, Sustainability Coordinator Date: April 2, 2025 Parks & Environmental Commission Work Session Request: Sustainable building policy discussion BACKGROUND As part of the Climate Plan, an identified action item under the Energy focus area is to “Consider adopting a sustainable building policy for all new and remodeled construction projects.” This is a policy-coded Climate Plan action that will eventually require a recommendation from PEC to move forward with the City Council. SUSTAINABLE BUILDING POLICY OVERVIEW For the purpose of this discussion, we define sustainable building policies as those that establish minimum sustainability criteria beyond existing state code for new constructions or significant renovations, targeting pollution reduction, resource conservation, and environmental responsibility. These can also be referred to as green building policies. The intent of the work session discussion is to begin outlining what criteria would apply to a potential sustainable building policy in Saint Anthony Village, the types of projects for which it would apply, and other possible requirements. The city has no existing policy aside from a brief section for sustainability considerations in the language for general regulations for R-4 zoning district multi-family developments: §154.105 (C) Sustainability. The city will review multi-family residential projects with a consideration for sustainability measures included in the project development. Elements that may be included are charging stations for electric vehicles, storm water treatment and re-use for landscape irrigation, accommodations for sustainable energy provisions, such as roof-top solar or wind, and other measures. The city encourages a creative and affirmative approach to sustainability consistent with its Comprehensive Plan and related policies. The Center for Energy and Environment and Hennepin County published a sustainable building policy guide in 2021 with recommendations for policy frameworks and best practices. There are three approaches that may be considered: a mandatory approach, scoring approach and suggestion approach. All three have been used in other Minnesota cities. A city can activate its existing sustainable building policy due to the following triggers: funding incentives, land use incentives, process incentives, and building size. Staff is considering enforcement of the policy and how to ensure compliance as part of the development process. THIRD-PARTY RATING SYSTEMS To encourage standardization across the region, compliance with a third-party rating system is recommended. These rating systems are well known in the construction industry and allow for developer flexibility to meet policy requirements.