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City narrows Chapter 7 changes, adds waiver process for some affordable housing projects
Summary
Staff proposed modest updates to municipal green building rules: continuing the municipal natural gas equipment inventory, streamlining requirements for small projects, updating references to LEED v5, clarifying biodiversity plant lists and expanding waiver options for affordable housing pursuing major-renovation compliance.
San Francisco's Environment Department on Monday presented a limited set of updates to Environment Code Chapter 7 that focus on implementation details, inventory maintenance and a new waiver pathway for certain affordable-housing projects.
Nick Kessner, senior building decarbonization coordinator, told the commission the update is not as comprehensive as the department's 2023 overhaul but includes several operational changes: departments will continue to maintain the municipal natural gas equipment inventory so it does not become out of date; small municipal projects under 10,000 square feet will no longer need a full lead checklist without lead-support processes in place; municipal project plant lists will be required to ensure biodiversity guidelines are met; and the city will reference LEED v5 language in Chapter 7 to align with the latest rating system.
Kessner said the department is expanding the waiver process for affordable-housing sponsors that seek exemptions from the recently passed all-electric major-renovations ordinance. Under the proposed approach, the municipal green building task force ' now expanded to include the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development ' will consider waivers and MOHCD will act as a sponsor for affordable-housing projects that petition for flexibility.
"We had to move the implementation back by a year and add MOHCD to the task force to support projects that need more flexibility," Kessner said.
Kessner outlined a timeline: the task force has discussed the changes since January; staff will draft legislation with a sponsor and city attorney; departments affected by Chapter 7 will be asked for sign-off before the draft goes to the Board of Supervisors early next year.
Commissioners asked about examples of municipal electrification projects; Kessner pointed to smaller retrofits the city's public utility and building teams have completed and said larger boiler replacements at facilities such as the county jail remain a challenge for future electrification planning.
No formal action was taken; staff will continue to draft legislative language and coordinate interdepartmental review.
