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1 <br />OVERVIEW <br />Cities throughout Minnesota seek to improve public health, <br />environmental justice, and environmental and economic <br />sustainability. As cities set targets to reduce carbon <br />emissions, reduce waste, protect natural areas, and mitigate <br />stormwater runoff, many are turning to building-related <br />strategies to help achieve these goals. <br />Generally, cities have three main levers to create change: <br />mandatory requirements, process incentives, and financial <br />incentives. Because the State of Minnesota sets the building <br />code, cities are unable to establish building requirements that <br />are more strict than existing code; however, with financial <br />levers and authority over land use, cities have tremendous <br />potential to use sustainable building policies as a tool to make <br />progress toward sustainability goals. <br />To date, Minnesota cities have taken three approaches in the <br />application of sustainable building policies, listed below in <br />order of impact: <br />1. Mandatory approach (Recommended). This policy <br />approach identifies default sustainability requirements <br />for funding programs and land use variances above <br />certain thresholds. These requirements are in addition <br />to other program and land use requirements. <br />2. Scoring approach. Buildings are scored on a set of <br />criteria and those with the highest scores qualify for <br />city program funding and approval. <br />3. Suggestion approach. Developers are strongly <br />encouraged to consider sustainability in construction <br />through a sustainability questionnaire. <br />Based on research of existing policies and interviews with <br />Minnesota cities, we identified best practices and <br />recommendations for creating a framework and implementing <br />a mandatory sustainable building policy. <br />The intent of this guide is to provide a resource for cities <br />considering sustainable building policies and to encourage <br />standardization across cities. Standardization has many <br />benefits including improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness <br />across the region, facilitating the adoption of sustainable <br />building practices, and reducing competition among cities for <br />development. <br />Sustainable Building Policy <br />Defined <br />Sustainable building policies <br />establish minimum <br />sustainability criteria that go <br />beyond existing state code for <br />new construction or <br />significantly renovated <br />developments. Included criteria <br />typically target areas for <br />pollution reduction and <br />resource conservation. Also <br />known as green building <br />policies. <br />Existing Policies <br />As of 2022, eight Minnesota <br />cities have some type of <br />formal sustainable building <br />approach: Duluth, Edina, <br />Maplewood, Minneapolis, <br />Northfield, Rochester, St. <br />Louis Park, and Saint Paul. <br />The affected building types, <br />triggers, and criteria vary by <br />policy, although some <br />standardization is taking <br />shape. See the Appendix for <br />detailed comparison of the <br />policies. <br />28