City of San Francisco - Green Building Code (California)

Last modified on February 12, 2015.

Rules Regulations Policies Program

Place	California
Name	City of San Francisco - Green Building Code
Incentive Type	Building Energy Code
Applicable Sector	Commercial, Residential
Eligible Technologies	Comprehensive Measures/Whole Building, Biomass, Daylighting, Fuel Cells, Passive Solar Space Heat, Photovoltaics, Small Hydroelectric, Solar Space Heat, Solar Water Heat, Wind
Active Incentive	Yes
Implementing Sector	Local
Energy Category	Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs, Renewable Energy Incentive Programs
Commercial Code	Varies by building type. See table below for complete schedule.
Residential Code	Varies by building type. See table below for complete schedule.
Website	http://www.sfdbi.org/index.aspx?page=268
Date added to DSIRE	2008-08-28
Last DSIRE Review	2013-02-18
References	DSIRE

Summary

San Francisco adopted a mandatory green building code for new construction projects in September 2008, establishing strict guidelines for residential and commercial buildings according to the following schedule:

Building Type	Year	Requirement
Small Residential (four dwellings or fewer)	2009	25 Green Points (does not need to be rated)
	2010 and 2011	Must be GreenPoint Rated and building applications must demonstrate that a minimum of 50 GreenPoints will be earned
	2012	Building applications for new homes must demonstrate that at least 75 GreenPoints will be achieved
Mid-size Residential	2009	25 Green Points (does not need to be rated)
	2010	Must be GreenPoint Rated and building applications must demonstrate that a minimum of 50 GreenPoints will be earned
	2011 and 2012	Building applications for new homes must demonstrate that at least 75 GreenPoints will be achieved
High-rise Residential	2009	New permit applications must include documentation to achieve LEED certification (or 50 GreenPoints)
	2010	New permit applications must include documentation to achieve LEED Silver certification (or 75 GreenPoints). A number of specific LEED standards must also be met for landscaping, water use reduction, and construction debris management
	2012	Building applications must also meet LEED standards for the use of on-site renewable energy or the purchase of renewable energy credits
Mid-Size Commercial	2009	New permit applications don't need to meet LEED certification requirements but must meet LEED standards for building commissioning, landscaping, water use, and construction debris management
	2010	New permit applications must meet enhanced commissioning standards and tighter water use requirements
	2012	Building applications must also meet LEED standards for the use of on-site renewable energy or the purchase of renewable energy credits
Large Commercial	November 2008	New permit applications must include documentation to achieve LEED certification
	2009, 2010, 2011	New permit applications must include documentation to achieve LEED Silver certification
	2012	New permit applications must include documentation to achieve LEED Gold certification

Certain buildings will need to meet additional requirements by varying dates. See Ordinance 180-08 for the full implementation schedule. Click here for Administrative Bulletin 093, which provides more information about the implementation of the green building requirements.

Commercial Building Benchmarking Requirements Ordinance 17-11, passed in February 2011, requires owners of commercial buildings over 10,000 square feet to annually measure their building's energy performance and to report the findings to the San Francisco Department of Environment. The ordinance also requires owners of commercial buildings over 10,000 square feet to have an energy audit conducted every five years, and to submit a report on those findings to the Department of Environment. The Department of Environment will make certain aspects of these reports available to the public for every affected building. These requirements take effect in October 2011 for buildings over 50,000 square feet, and will be phased in for smaller buildings through 2013.

Incentive Contact

Contact Name	Green Building
Department	San Francisco
Division	Department of Building Inspection
Address	1660 Mission Street
Place	San Francisco, California
Zip/Postal Code	94103
Phone	(415) 558-6088
Email	dbicustomerservice@sfgov.org

Authorities (Please contact the if there are any file problems.)

Authority 1:	San Francisco Building Inspection Commission (BIC) Code 13C.101, et seq.
Date Effective	2008-11-01
Date Enacted	2008-09-04

• Incentive and policy data are reviewed and approved by the N.C. Solar Center's DSIRE project staff.