We are committed to working with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that the RRIO program implements Council direction and also reflects the needs and interests of the community. Periodically, we will ask for input on specific topics, including fees, how to design and implement the weighted checklist that will describe how to meet the minimum required housing standards, how to best inform property owners and tenants about the requirements of the program, and education and training opportunities for inspectors and property owners. Earlier this year we held a series of meetings to discuss fees. Our meeting on May 9 (at 2:00 p.m.) will discuss the weighted checklist.  Meetings are open to the public and you are welcome to attend. Seating at the table is reserved for the designated stakeholders, the facilitator and City project staff. 

• Read the meeting Agenda 
• Review the Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance
• Review other information on our web site: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Compliance/RentalHousing/Overview/default.asp

Urban areas that collect stormwater runoff in municipal separate storm sewers (MS4s) and discharge it to surface waters must have a permit under the federal Clean Water Act. The Department of Ecology develops and administers National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater permits in Washington State.

The Department of Ecology is requiring Seattle to update our current codes with additional stormwater control regulations as a condition of our NPDES permit. To meet these requirements, we are revising our existing Stormwater Code (SMC 22.800-22.808) and the associated Directors’ Rules. These new rules will replace the current drainage control code and Directors’ Rules which are administered jointly by DPD and Seattle Public Utilities.

The actual code changes are still to be determined. However, our regulations must be equivalent to Ecology’s NPDES 2012 Stormwater Manual. Our updates will address the following topics:

• Public education, outreach, and involvement
• Illicit discharge detection & elimination
• Construction site stormwater runoff control
• Pollution prevention, good housekeeping, and operation and maintenance
• Post-construction stormwater management for new development and redevelopment, including low impact development
• Monitoring
• Structural stormwater controls
• Source control

Timelines

• August 1, 2012: The Department of Ecology reissued the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Phase I Municipal permit
• August 1, 2013 through July 31, 2018: Our NPDES permit is effective
• June 2015: Our updated Stormwater Code and related Director’s Rules are scheduled to take effect

For more information, a survey, and frequently asked questions, visit our Stormwater Code website at www.seattle.gov/dpd/codes/stormwatercode/Overview/.  

You can submit comments and join the Stormwater Code listserv by sending an email to stormwatercode@seattle.gov.

• Rezone areas from Commercial 2 (C2) and Neighborhood Commercial 3 (NC3) to Seattle Mixed (SM)
• Increase allowable heights to 85 feet in certain proposed commercially-zoned areas near the Mount Baker light rail station
• Increase allowable heights to 125 feet in certain commercially-zoned areas between Rainier Avenue South and M.L. King Jr. Way South
• Introduce new development standards in the proposed 125-foot zone to control the bulk of new structures and increase pedestrian circulation
• Rezone certain areas at South McClellan Street and Claremont Avenue South from Single Family (SF) to Seattle Mixed/Residential 55/75 (SM/R 55/75)
• Rezone the parcel at 25^th Avenue South from Lowrise 3 (LR3) to Seattle Mixed/Residential 55/75 (SM/R 55/75)

Our proposed rezones and code amendments are based on the Mount Baker Town Center Urban Design Framework (2012) to carry out key actions identified by the community during the recent update of the North Rainier Neighborhood Plan. Our porposal is intended to encourage future development that respects the context of the neighborhood core, achieves appropriate transitions to less intensive zones, and supports the neighborhood’s pedestrian and transit orientation around the Mt. Baker Light Rail Station. 

For additional information please review these documents:

• Director’s Analysis and Recommendation on North Rainier / Mount Baker Town Center Rezone Proposal
• North Rainier SEPA Determination
• North Rainier SEPA Checklist

• Wood: Concrete for the 21st Century – Presentation to Council
• Why Not Timber High-Rises? – Appendix to Presentation to Council

The product being introduced to the market is called cross-laminated timber, or CLT.  CLT is an engineered product made of sheets of boards placed in layers perpendicular to one another in a manner similar to plywood. However, unlike plywood, CLT is made of thick layers of lumber with enhanced structural and fire-resistive performance. [1] 

The Construction Codes Advisory Board’s Innovation Advisory Committee is evaluating whether Seattle should increase the height and area allowed for buildings built of CLT.  Large CLT buildings have been built in other parts of the world:  the Graphite Apartments in London is a nine-story CLT building; and a 10-story residential building, Forté, is nearing completion in Melbourne, Australia.

For more information, read the New York Times article “Wood That Reaches New Heights.”

Contact Kathleen Petrie at kathleen.petrie@seattle.gov to participate in committee activities, or to receive periodic project updates.

If you would like more information, contact:

Maureen Traxler
maureen.traxler@seattle.gov

The 2012 Seattle Energy Code draft amendments are for commercial buildings. (Single-family homes and multi-family buildings below four stories will not be impacted by the 2012 updates.) The draft amendments will be discussed in a series of January meetings. These meetings will typically be two and a half hours long. Each one will focus on a limited set of topics, as outlined below.

• Jan. 4 – Legislated energy targets, existing Seattle amendments, solar-ready roofs
• Jan. 10 – Target performance code option, metering, plug load controls
• Jan. 14 – Substantial alterations, allowable glazing area
• Jan. 18 – Commissioning report, retro-commissioning
• Jan. 24 – Review of changes and additional issues

All meetings will be held in room 4050 of the Seattle Municipal Tower, from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m.

The current schedule calls for the 2012 Seattle Energy Code to become mandatory for permit applications filed after September 1, 2013. It will be an amended version of the new state energy code, which has changed a great deal from previous editions.

City of Seattle policies mandate significant short and long-term reductions in building energy use, far beyond what can be achieved with thicker insulation or better light bulbs. Opportunities for large-scale energy reductions exist in the design process, solar energy, commissioning, plug loads, building operations and major remodeling projects. Each of these is addressed in the proposed amendments. Several amendments facilitate more efficient operations of existing and newly-constructed buildings, while others provide additional design flexibility.

Materials will be sent to the energy code email list the week before each meeting. You can contact EnergyCode@Seattle.govto be added to the Seattle Energy Code email list.

For more information about the Seattle energy code update, visit our website www.seattle.gov/dpd/Codes/Energy_Code/.

Comments may be submitted to Kathleen Petrie at kathleen.petrie@seattle.gov.

Comments may be submitted to:

Kathleen Petrie
kathleen.petrie@seattle.gov

Experts from design, construction and energy conservation fields are invited to form a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to propose new amendments and to evaluate other proposed changes to the commercial side of the 2012 Seattle Energy Code. This TAG will meet several times during December and January to review and develop code change proposals. Interested experts should send a brief message to energycode@seattle.gov.

Effective Dates: The 2012 Seattle Energy Codeis scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2013, and become mandatory for permit applications filed on September 1. It is possible that the effective date could occur later in the year, if rulemaking procedures take longer than expected. (Outside of Seattle, the new state code will go into effect July 1.)

The 2012 IECC has been strengthened by adding higher-performing requirements already in the current state code, and then considering 170 code change proposals from the public. About half of these changes were eventually adopted, many of them coming straight from our 2009 Seattle code. Overall, buildings constructed to the new state code are predicted to use about 9 percent less energy than those built under the current code.

Targets: By City Council direction, the Seattle Energy Code must result in commercial buildings that use 20 percent less energy than required by the current version of ASHRAE 90.1, a national standard. The current (2010) edition of ASHRAE 90.1 is dramatically more stringent than the previous edition, so it remains to be seen if we can hit that target. Seattle is also targeting a 20 percent energy use reduction for both new and existing buildings by 2020, just eight years from now, so effective changes in the way we manage energy are crucial.

The State Legislature mandated a 70 percent reduction in new buildings’ energy use between the 2006 and 2030 energy codes, in incremental steps. Some local buildings are already approaching that performance goal, so it is feasible, but it will require new awareness and cooperation amongst the entire design, development and construction community.

For more information, contact energycode@seattle.gov.

Meeting Details

When:
Monday, October 29, 2012
4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Where:
Seattle Municipal Tower
Room 4050

Public comment period:
October 22 to November 12

Draft Green Code Provisions will be available during the comment period at www.seattle.gov/DPD/Codes/GreenCodeProvisions/Overview/default.asp

Submit comments to:

Kathleen Petrie
kathleen.petrie@seattle.gov