Recommendations on things you can do to improve our Residential and Commercial development sustainability for existing remodels or new construction.
Currently the City of Lafayette and the Building Department do not require sustainability items in order to obtain permits for projects within the city. It is our hope that architects and builders will review the list below in order to consider adding sustainability items into their plans,
Transportation:
- Provide bike parking on site and shower facilities
- Build development within ¼ mile of public transportation
- Provide or maintain a bus shelter for public transportation
- Provide preferred parking to serve car/van pools
- Install electric plug-in stations for electric vehicles
Energy Efficiency:
- Increase energy efficiency of construction by 20% over current codes
- Offset traditional energy usage with renewable production
- Plant 20% additional trees
- Place 50% of parking under cover of a roof with minimum SRI of 29.
- Construct the building and/or roof to be elongated on an east-west axis.
- Provide separate meters for electricity and gas to tenants of 10k sf or more.
- Perform an energy audit and implement efficiency improvements
Community:
- Preserve existing structures when increasing square footage.
- Add affordable housing units (defined by HUD) if residential
- Choose an infill site or brownfield site
- Provide community garden plots
- Provide a compost bin location on property
Stormwater and Water quality:
- Use porous paving wherever possible
- Plant a vegetated roof on a portion of the roof area
- Exceed open space requirement by 25% or more