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Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program

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.

Applicability: Required for all new construction of single-family and duplex/attached homes, multi-family residential, and non-residential developments. Required for major remodels/additions greater than 20% of the existing site for multi-family and non-residential developments. Performance Standard (maximum allowed emissions): There is a gap between the city’s projected emissions trajectory based on actual emissions, and the adopted goal emissions to be met by 2030. How do we reduce the citywide projected emissions to meet our climate commitments? New development needs to be aligned with the 2030 target emissions, which is the performance standard. Meeting the Performance Standard: There are several ways to meet the Performance Standard. The best option is to design the development to meet the goal. If that is not possible, how can a proposed development reduce the projected emissions to meet the performance standard? They can reduce emissions using mitigation strategies like energy efficiency, renewables, EV charging, and waste diversion. As a bonus, they can leverage EDM items to earn EDM points while reducing emissions. Any emissions exceeding the performance standard after incorporating mitigation strategies are subject to a fee-in-lieu of compliance. Fee-in-Lieu of Compliance: The fee-in-lieu is charged at the rate of $76 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent emissions over the Performance Standard. This is the rate of the Social Cost of Carbon as determined from state and federal guidance. The fee-in-lieu is charged for 10 years’ worth of annual emissions. Emissions from electricity are “discounted” based on Xcel Energy’s plans to increase renewable energy in the electrical grid.

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