Originally published April 15, 2009
At its meeting last evening, the Jacksonville, Fla. City Council passed Ordinance 2009-211, creating a new Chapter 327 of the Ordinance Code, which establishes a sustainable building program for the city – one that includes a temporary sustainable building certification refund grant program (collectively, the Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program).
The Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program provides several incentives for commercial and residential buildings and developments to achieve certification through one of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating systems and other certification systems approved by Jacksonville's Environmental Protection Board. Part of the intent of the Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program is to "support development of privately owned buildings in Jacksonville to sustainable standards."
Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program participants seeking LEED or other approved sustainable building certifications may take advantage of the following incentives provided in the ordinance:
- Fast-track development review. Development services by all Jacksonville departments – including preliminary site plan reviews and 10-set reviews, submitted or resubmitted for review – will be given priority over projects that are not Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program projects.
- Fast-track plat approval. Applications for plat approval will be given priority over projects that are not Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program projects, provided the developer records covenants or other restrictions sufficient to require that all homes in the subdivision will be constructed so as to qualify for sustainable building certification.
- Priority for administrative deviations. Applications for administrative deviations pursuant to Section 656.109 of Jacksonville's Ordinance Code will be given priority over other applications that are not Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program projects.
- Potential relief from required setbacks for parking and driveways. Requests for relief from the requirements for setbacks for parking and driveways pursuant to Section 656.607(i) of the Jacksonville Ordinance Code will be liberally construed to promote green building certification.
Financial Incentive to Offset Out-of-Pocket Costs for Sustainable Building Certification
The Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program also includes a financial incentive to assist in offsetting the out-of-pocket costs associated with certification under LEED and other approved certification systems. Specifically, owners or developers of projects seeking building certification though LEED or other approved certification systems may receive a refund of up to $1,000 toward the actual costs of sustainable building certification (the Sustainable Building Certification Refund Program). This refund is available only for private construction projects and terminates upon the earlier of the complete disbursement of the funds appropriated for the Sustainable Building Certification Refund Program or upon final action on all applications received prior to December 31, 2013. The ordinance currently appropriates $100,000 from the Environmental Protection Trust Fund to the Sustainable Building Certification Refund Program.
Participants who obtain priority status under the Jacksonville Sustainable Building Program must provide proof of sustainable building certification to Jacksonville's Environmental and Compliance Department within 180 days of the issue date of the Certificate of Occupancy for the particular building or development. Owners and developers who obtain priority status but fail to achieve sustainable building certification may be denied future priority status by the director of the Planning and Development Department.
New Certification Requirements for Construction and Renovations of City Owned Buildings
The ordinance also serves to "demonstrate a substantial commitment on the part of [Jacksonville] to finance, plan, design, construct, manage, renovate, commission, maintain and deconstruct County Buildings with sustainable building standards." As such, it requires all new city-owned buildings to obtain, at a minimum, LEED or other approved sustainable building certification for any buildings in a project. Also, the Jacksonville ordinance requires that all renovations to existing city-owned buildings, where such modifications include more than 50 percent of the total building square footage, similarly obtain LEED or other approved sustainable building certification.
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