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Joint Development Authority <br />TCAAP Redevelopment Project <br />Joint Development Authority <br />TCAAP Redevelopment Project <br />AGENDA ITEM 8d <br />MEMORANDUM <br />DATE: <br />TO: <br />FROM: <br />SUBJECT: <br />January 21, 2025 <br />Joint Development Authority Board of Commissioners <br />Director Jagoe and Ella Mitchell, Ramsey County <br />Approve Sustainability Design Guidelines <br />Recommendation: Staff recommends that the JDA approve the Sustainability Design Guidelines (SDG) <br />for Rice Creek Commons. <br />Background <br />In late 2023, the JDA engaged Ever-Green Energy and LHB to analyze implementation strategies for the <br />JDA’s Green Energy Vision. This analysis consisted of a comprehensive energy analysis to understand the <br />energy demands of the planned development, a description of strategies to reduce that energy demand <br />(primarily through high-performance building design), and analysis of renewable energy technologies to <br />meet the remaining energy demand. As a part of this process, consultants and staff met with project <br />developers to discuss sustainable development and clean energy strategies. <br />Ever-Green Energy and LHB presented their initial findings at the October 2024 JDA work session and <br />their final report, the Clean Energy Analysis Report, was accepted by the JDA at the November 2024 <br />meeting. At the November meeting, the JDA approved a Clean Energy Policy: Rice Creek Commons seeks <br />to be an all-electric, carbon-free community. <br />Sustainability Design Guidelines <br />Included in the Clean Energy Analysis Report was a draft of Sustainability Design Guidelines (SDG) <br />(Appendix I), which describes feasible development standards that tangibly support the Green Energy <br />Vision and Clean Energy Policy. These include standards for LEED certification, building energy efficiency, <br />all-electric buildings, photovoltaic (PV) system installation, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and <br />reporting. <br />At the November 2024 meeting, the JDA expressed a desire to understand the waiver process and <br />implications of SDG standards for the development prior to approval. Staff subsequently worked with <br />the consultants at LHB and the JDA attorneys to address these items, and the SDG have been updated to <br />describe implementation and compliance (Section 3), including the waiver approval process.