DATE:
July 19, 2022
TO:
Christine Daniel, City Manager
FROM:
Charles S. Bryant, Community and Economic Development Director, and Mohamed Alaoui, Public Works Director SUBJECT:
Ordinance Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Amending The Planning Regulations By Adding Mass Timber Construction As A Community Benefit Eligible For Development Bonus Points In Section 9-4.204(e) Of The Emeryville Municipal Code. CEQA Determination: Exempt Under Section 15061(b)(3) Recommendation
The Sustainability Committee, the Planning Commission, and staff recommend that the City Council introduce and approve on second reading the above-entitled ordinance to add mass timber construction as a category of Community Benefit eligible for Development Bonus Points in Section 9-4.204(e) of the Emeryville Municipal Code.
Background
Mass timber is an umbrella term for engineered wood products including cross-laminated timber (CLT), laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and glue-laminated (glulam) beams, among others. Mass timber construction, in contrast to light-frame wood construction, is built using a category of engineered wood products, which are typically thick, compressed layers of wood formed through the use of lamination, fasteners, or adhesives. Mass timber products are engineered for high strength ratings, like concrete and steel, but are significantly lighter in weight and use renewable materials.
The 2021 International Building Code (IBC) added important changes in material technologies and their expanded use on ‘tall wood buildings’, which use mass timber in structural elements. However, the 2021 IBC will not be proposed for adoption into the California Building Code (CBC) (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) and become effective until January 1, 2023. In order to accelerate the inclusion of these technologies, several state agencies (the Office of the State Fire Marshal, California Buildings Standards Commission, Division of the State Architect, and Department of Housing and Community Development) proposed for adoption Tall Wood/Mass Timber building standards for early use. On November 5, 2020, the California Building Standards Commission voted to include the new standards in the 2019 California Building Standards Code as an Intervening Code Supplement, which was published on December 31, 2020, with an effective date of July 1, 2021.
The adopted standards are detailed in Attachment 1, “California Building Standards Commission Information Bulletin 20-04 (Revised).” Depending on the type of construction and building occupancy, buildings up to 18 stories in height may be built with mass timber framing. Attachment 2, “Tall Wood Buildings in the 2021 IBC,” provides technical detail on this technology and allowable uses.
Notably, the Office of the State Fire Marshal was active in the proposal to adopt these standards into the CBC. Chief Mike Richwine, California State Fire Marshal, summarized the reasons for his agency’s support:
“The early adoption of mass timber codes can be a benefit to California in many ways, but I would like to highlight three of those advantages in this proposal. Number 1, it has the potential to increase the market demand for mass timber production in California to meet the needs of the construction industry. Number 2, it will increase the pace and scale of our wildland fire prevention and forest management goals of treating 500,000 acres per year by thinning the forest of smaller diameter trees that can be used in the production of cross laminated timber and other mass timber assemblies. And while wood products provide the benefit of storing carbon, another benefit or advantage is that mass timber construction can also help reduce the carbon footprint of concrete and steel production.” The potential economic benefits of improved wildfire prevention and job development in California are substantial. The benefits of tall wood/mass timber construction in place of traditional steel-and-concrete construction include improved wildfire prevention, faster and less disruptive construction, and environmental improvements including lower greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality.
In addition, the environmental and climate impacts of increased responsible forest management including carbon storage and reduced heat, combined with a reduction in the use of steel and concrete in construction, can be significant. The table below shows the environmental impact of concrete and steel as compared to wood in construction:
Environmental impact compared to wood:
Embodied energy
Negative climate impact
Negative impact on air quality
Negative impact on water
Resources consumed by weight
Waste produced
METAL
+53%
+23%
+74%
+247%
+14%
-21%
CONCRETE
+120%
+50%
+115%
+114%
+93%
+37%
Given these benefits, the Sustainability Committee has recommended that the City of Emeryville promote the use of mass timber in construction. On May 26, 2022, the Planning Commission initiated an amendment to the Planning Regulations (per Section 9-7.1303(b) of the Planning Regulations) to add a category for mass timber construction as a new category under the Development Bonus system at Section 9-4.204.
Under this system, projects that seek development bonuses for height, floor area ratio (FAR), and/or residential density must earn bonus “points” proportionate to the amount of bonus being requested. Projects seeking the maximum bonus must earn 100 points, while projects seeking a lesser bonus must earn fewer points. Half of the bonus points must come from providing affordable units in the project or paying an increased Affordable Housing Impact Fee (for nonresidential projects), and the other half must come from other community benefits. Currently, there are six categories of community benefits as listed in Table 9-4.204(c): (1) Public Open Space, (2) Zero Net Energy, (3) Public Improvements, (4) Utility Undergrounding, (5) Additional Family Friendly Units, and (6) Small Business Assistance Funding. In addition, there is a provision for a “Flexible Community Benefit” for an undefined community benefit proposed by the applicant, which must be approved by the City Council. The Sustainability Committee and Planning Commission propose to add a seventh category of community benefits to Table 9-4.204(c) for “Mass Timber Construction,” An applicant whose project required development bonus points could earn up to 50 scalable points by committing to use this type of construction. This would provide an incentive to developers to use mass timber construction at no cost to the City and without requiring amendments to the building code, because the California Building Code has already been amended to include it.
City Council and Sustainability Committee Comments
On October 5, 2021, the City Council directed staff to develop a system to provide an opportunity for developers and builders to obtain development bonus points for the use of mass timber in new construction. Council requested that the available points be tied to the size or percentage of the project built using mass timber; this request is reflected in the proposal below.
On March 10, 2022, the Sustainability Committee approved this proposal as presented, directing staff to bring the proposal to the Planning Commission for discussion.
On April 28, 2022, the Planning Commission held a Study Session on this proposal, and recommended the following additions: 1) a minimum height for covered buildings, to ensure that the bonus applies only where steel-and-concrete construction is avoided, and 2) a limit on the volume of concrete topping used on mass timber decks. With those changes, the Planning Commission directed that the proposal come back for a Public Hearing.
On May 26, 2022, the Planning Commission held a Public Hearing on this proposal and then voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt it.
On July 5, 2022, the City Council held a Public Hearing on this ordinance and approved it on first reading with amendments to the point calculation for decking and framing.
Discussion
Consultations with experts in the field of mass timber construction and City staff led to the following proposal for adding mass timber construction as a potential source of development bonus points.
Proposed Bonus Points for Mass Timber Construction
Community Benefit
Maximum Points
Point Calculation
Requirements
Mass Timber Construction
50 Decking: 4 points per 10% of total deck area constructed with mass timber, including roof but not including slab on grade Framing: 1 point per 10% of total internal floor area constructed with mass timber Concrete topping: 10 points deducted per 0.5 inches of Portland cement-based concrete topping on mass timber deck Mass Timber Construction of buildings eighty-five feet in height or taller, defined as “Structural elements made primarily from built-up, panelized or engineered wood products. Products covered by this definition include, but are not limited to, glue-laminated timber, cross-laminated timber, nail-laminated timber, dowel-laminated timber, and mass plywood. Heavy timber is allowable only if salvaged.” Calculations based on total internal floor area, excluding parking and loading areas.
Concrete and other cement-based products used as topping over the mass timber deck are only subject to the point deduction if they contain more than 260pcy of cement. The deduction for products with more than 260pcy of cement may only be adjusted if a product-specific environmental product declaration that shows a global warming potential of less than 313 kg CO2e/m3.
The proposal has been refined in response to comments from the Planning Commission at their April 28, 2022 Study Session in the following ways:
The definition of decking has been clarified to include roof deck and to exclude slab on grade.
A point deduction for the use of excess concrete as a topping on a mass timber deck has been added.
The minimum height of a building eligible for these bonuses has been added, at eighty-five feet, in order to achieve the intended goal of limiting the use of concrete-and-steel construction where mass timber construction is possible.
Fiscal Impact
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the City of this proposal.
Staff Communication with the Public
A Public Hearing of this ordinance was held on July 5, 2022. Prior to that date, the proposal was discussed at the City Council Meeting on October 5, 2021, and at several meetings of the Sustainability Committee, most recently on January 10, 2022 and March 7, 2022. It was the subject of a study session at the Planning Commission on April 28, 2022 and a Public Hearing of the Planning Commission on May 26, 2022.
Conclusion
In response to the current climate crisis and with an awareness of the long lifespan of the built environment, it is economically and socially prudent to address operational greenhouse gas emissions of buildings as early as possible. The requirements described here will benefit builders, occupants, and the community for decades to come.
PREPARED BY: Nancy Humphrey, Environmental Programs Supervisor Approved and Forwarded to the
City Council of the City of Emeryville:
Christine Daniel, City Manager
Attachments
Attachment 1 – California Building Standards Commission Information Bulletin 20-04 (Revised) Attachment 2 – Tall Wood Buildings in the 2021 IBC
Proposed Ordinance
https://www.ecohome.net/guides/1010/how-wood-structures-compare-to-steel-and-concrete/ Mass Timber Construction Development Bonus Points
City Council Meeting | July 19, 2022
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM