Improving Sustainable Development Standards

The overall sustainable development program is contained within Article 13 of the Lakewood Zoning Ordinance, which was previously only the Enhanced Development Menu. The amendments expanded Article 13 to include a Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program, supplemental standards for Construction & Demolition waste recycling, and reserved space for a future benchmarking and performance standard for existing buildings.

The Enhanced Development Menu is a point-based menu designed to be flexible and context-specific, allowing for a wide variety of items to be implemented within a development site that holistically promote city goals. Examples of these items range from energy efficiency and renewable energy sources to local food access and public art.

The Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program has been designed to specifically capture the impact that all developments have on air quality and emissions. These types of impacts cannot be seen and do not stay within the confines of a single property. Mitigation of these impacts is essential for the community to reach its climate goals and commitments.

The Construction & Demolition Waste Recycling Supplemental Standards have been developed to help contractors figure out logistics and knowledge of C&D recycling to further compliance with the existing waste diversion requirements adopted in the building code.

Down the road, a future Benchmarking Program would provide a way to compare buildings within the city, increase efficiency, and ensure long-term compliance with the city’s climate commitments. This part of the Sustainable Development framework is envisioned within 3-5 years, following implementation of the statewide benchmarking legislation which passed last year.

The Enhanced Development Menu (EDM) is a point-based menu where developers choose from a selection of sustainability features to earn the required number of points. It is designed to be flexible and context-specific, allowing for a wide variety of items to be implemented within a development site that holistically promote city goals. Updates to the EDM include a greater variety of menu items, more equitable applicability and point requirements, and a limited fee-in-lieu option.

The Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program establishes a performance standard based on the emissions reduction needed to meet the city’s climate commitments. It has been designed to capture the impact that all developments have on air quality and emissions, which cannot be seen and do not stay within the confines of a single property. The idea here is that new development must have emissions that reflect where we want to be, not where we are right now. This section of the code determines the maximum amount of annual emissions allowed based on the type and size of development, helps calculate the projected emissions of a given development, and offers ways to reduce emissions to get closer to or meet the performance standard. If there are excess emissions, a fee-in-lieu of compliance is charged at the rate of the Social Cost of Carbon for 10 years’ worth of cumulative annual emissions.

The Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Recycling Supplemental Standards have been developed to support the logistics and knowledge of C&D recycling to further compliance with the existing waste diversion requirements adopted in the building code. It would include more waste strategy planning on the front end, stronger reporting requirements on the back end, and would create a deposit/refund system to encourage compliance.

When a developer chooses to not design their project to meet these Article 13 standards, any fees-in-lieu of compliance from the EDM and GHG standards and forfeited performance deposits from the C&D standards will be directed to a Climate Protection & Sustainability Fund. As aligned with legal requirements for fee-in-lieu expenditures, these revenues will fund a Climate Protection & Sustainability Program for advancing sustainability of the built environment, climate mitigation and adaptation, and waste reduction projects. Some examples may include energy and water efficiency retrofits, renewable energy and electrification assistance, and tree planting and preservation to support clean air and reduce urban heat impacts. The allocations for specific projects will be approved by Council through the usual annual budget process, where staff will report on the previous year's impact and request allocations for the coming year. Proposed projects will be evaluated for their contribution to emissions reduction, community resilience, environmental justice, and equity.

In 2015, the Lakewood community established a vision for a sustainably built environment in the adopted Comprehensive Plan and Sustainability Plan. To help implement that vision, several standards for new development have been adopted in recent years:

• 2018 amendments to the Building Code
  • Solar-ready and electric vehicle-ready construction requirements
  • Construction and demolition waste recycling requirements
• 2019 amendments to the Zoning Ordinance
  • Electric vehicle parking standards
  • Enhanced Development Menu

Over the last two years, city staff has been tracking the impact and progress of the adopted standards and evaluating opportunities to improve them. Together with a recommendation from the Lakewood Advisory Commission and direction from City Council to explore additional requirements that reduce the impact of new development, these updates have been proposed as a holistic, more complete approach to achieve the community's goals for sustainable development.

The proposed updates build upon the existing sustainable design standards that City Council adopted in 2019. They will expand the scope of Article 13 of the Zoning Ordinance to create a holistic program for sustainable development throughout the city, including three key elements:

• Enhanced Development Menu (EDM): Expand the existing EDM, a point-based menu of options intended to minimize impact and promote specific benefits that advance the city's adopted sustainability and community goals.
• Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program (GHGMP): Create a new greenhouse gas mitigation program designed to ensure that new development aligns with the community's climate goals and commitments and prevents excess emissions. This builds upon the Lakewood Advisory Commission's report to City Council in early 2021 recommending a Renewable Energy Mitigation Program.
• Construction & Demolition Waste Recycling (C&D): Add supplemental standards to reduce the volume of debris generated and sent to landfills and increase compliance with the city's existing construction and demolition waste recycling requirements.

A fourth piece of the program, Benchmarking, is envisioned to be implemented at some point in the future to ensure ongoing long-term compliance of existing buildings with city emissions and conservation goals, but is not a part of the proposed updates at this time.

The Enhanced Development Menu currently applies only to large-scale developments over 20,000 square feet in size. However, even smaller developments also have impacts to the surrounding area and add up over time as more and more small properties redevelop. The proposed updates to the EDM pertaining to the applicability and point requirements would ensure that the community receives benefits from development of all sizes, yet not impose a heavy burden on small-scale projects.

• Expands applicability and updates the point structure to more accurately relate to the size of development.
  1. Single-family detached and attached homes would be exempt, except for new residential subdivisions requiring Major Site Plan review.
  2. There would be considerations for affordable housing by excluding the square footage of affordable units from the development size for the purposes of determining how many EDM points are required.
• A new fee-in-lieu of compliance with the standard would be offered for required points over 50 at a rate of $4,000 per point. The fees would be used to support projects advancing sustainability in the built environment through the Climate Protection & Sustainability Program.
• New items added to the EDM options to allow for greater variety, flexibility, and ability to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the new updates would help implement other city goals, such as enhanced streetscape design.

The Enhanced Development Menu (EDM) is designed to be flexible and context-specific, allowing for a wide variety of items to be implemented within a development site that promote city goals. Examples of these items range from using renewable energy sources to providing local food access and public art.

The majority of existing menu options would remain:

• Green Building Certification
• Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting
• Renewable Energy
• Recycling & Compost
• Outdoor Water Conservation
• Urban Heat Island Reduction
• Bike Amenities
• EV Charging
• Social Connection Amenities
• On-site Food Production
• Public Art

The new proposed Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program (GHGMP) evolved from the Lakewood Advisory Commission's Renewable Energy Mitigation Program recommendations to City Council in early 2021, and it is intended to ensure upcoming new development aligns with the city's air quality and pollution commitments. The program consists of a performance standard (maximum allowed emissions), mitigation opportunities to reduce a proposed project's estimated emissions, and a fee-in-lieu of compliance option where the estimated emissions exceed the performance standard.

The proposed updates to the Zoning Ordinance to establish the GHGMP would include:

• Broad applicability to all new construction of single-family and multi-family residential developments, and non-residential construction, as well as major alterations/additions requiring Major Site Plan review for multi-family and non-residential developments.
  • This would not apply to alterations or additions to existing single-family dwelling units, such as room additions, detached garages, accessory dwelling units, or basement finishes.

• A performance standard for greenhouse gas emissions to align new development with the community’s climate goals and commitments.
  • The performance standard for residential developments would be calculated based on the target emissions per person, while the performance standard for non-residential and commercial developments would be calculated based on the target emissions per square foot.

• A methodology to calculate estimated CO₂ emissions for a proposed development using publicly available and credible data sources, including Denver Regional Council of Governments, Xcel Energy, Environmental Insights Explorer, the Energy Information Administration, and the city's 2018 GHG inventory.
  • Estimates for residential developments would include emissions from energy, transportation and waste, while estimates for non-residential developments would be based on emissions from energy and waste.

• Opportunities to mitigate emissions exceeding the performance standard, including but not limited to, incorporating renewable energy for electricity and space conditioning needs, improving building efficiency, installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and providing waste diversion services.
  • Many mitigation opportunities would overlap with the Enhanced Development Menu and could count toward both programs, creating a further incentive for sustainable development.
• A fee-in-lieu of compliance for any emissions above the performance standard that have not been addressed through approved mitigation measures. The amount of the fee would follow state and federal guidance for the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC), currently $76 per metric ton of CO₂ emissions. The fees would be used to support projects reducing communitywide emissions through the Climate Protection & Sustainability Program.