Monday, July 25, 2011
Meeting to review the Fairfax Co Green Building Policy
The Environment Committee of the Fairfax Co Plannning Commission will meet on the same night as the Gallows Rd/Rt 29 meeting to discuss the Green Building Policy that was adopted in 2007. The meeting is Wed. the 27th from 7-9 p.m. in the Board Auditorium, Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035."At the time of the initial Green Building Policy adoption in December 2007, the Planning Commission was directed to review the policy after two years to assess the efficacy of the policy as well as to determine if any revisions were necessary, given that the green building field is rapidly evolving." Staff have reviewed the policy and developed a Draft Green Building Comprehensive Plan Policy Review Strawman. Part of the policy is to encourage more bicycling:
Policy e. Encourage energy conservation through the provision of measures which support nonmotorized transportation, such as the provision of showers and lockers for employees and the provision of bicycle parking facilities for employment, retail and multifamily residential uses.
While it's encouraging that bicycling is included in the policy, LEED specifications for bicycle facilities are inadequate in our opinion. We discussed this in an earlier post on bike parking at VDOT headquarters. The building is LEED-certified but has wave racks located 300 feet from the building entrance. Fortunately VDOT has agreed to provide inverted U racks adjacent to two building entrances for visitors and employees.We sent comments to the Planning Commission asking for more detailed bike recommendations in the green building policy. Fortunately a final draft bike of the county's parking guidelines have been released and we hope the become county policy this year.
Labels: bike parking, LEED
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