Thursday, February 26, 2015

You're Invited to a Special BOMA Reception for Supervisor Julie Christensen - March 16th




BOMA San Francisco Members:

Please consider attending a March 16th event that the BOMA SF- PAC is hosting for newly appointed Supervisor Julie Christensen.

The fundraiser is being held with BOMA member Scott Seligman (Seligman Western Enterprises) on the 40th floor of the Transamerica Pyramid from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. 


RSVP to Celeste Wolter at (347) 527-3368 or cwolter@bedfordgrovellc.com

The BOMA SF-PAC met with Julie soon after she was appointed to the District 3 Supervisor position (replacing David Chiu, who had been elected to the California Assembly).  Our members found her to be smart, and, as a long-time entrepreneur, supportive of growing San Francisco's economy and creating more housing, especially for moderate income residents. 

The PAC unanimously endorsed supporting her and is hosting this fundraiser to show our support for her. All BOMA San Francisco members are most welcomed to attend.



About Julie Christensen

Supervisor Julie Christensen was appointed by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee in January 2015 as the representative for San Francisco’s diverse District 3, which includes Chinatown, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, Polk Street, the Financial District and Union Square. She is dedicated to honoring and preserving the history of San Francisco’s oldest neighborhoods while making them pleasant, safe and viable places to live, work and visit.

Supervisor Christensen has over twenty years experience working with elected officials, City departments, community organizations and neighborhood volunteers on an extensive list of civic projects including:
  • Transportation: Spearheading the drive to extend the Central Subway to the northern waterfront. 
  • Libraries: Leading the successful campaign to locate and build a new North Beach Library and leading the neighborhood campaign to fund the library interiors.
  • Historical preservation & accessibility: Protecting and enhancing Coit Tower and the surrounding Pioneer Park, creating wheelchair access to the tower and improving pedestrian access and safety.
  • Parks: Redesign of Helen Wills Park on Russian Hill; Restoration and expansion of the North Beach Pool and Clubhouse; Redesign and fundraising for North Beach’s Joe DiMaggio Playground.
  • Streetscape improvements: From pedestrian safety to street trees.
Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Julie was a nationally recognized, award-winning expert on product development and design strategy who worked for a long list of prominent national and international companies. She is a 36-year resident of San Francisco who has spent 33 of those years in District 3. She and her husband Greg Smith, a San Francisco native and small business owner, and their SPCA mutt, Cooper, live in North Beach. She has a 28-year old stepson who works in the tech industry in the City.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Jenna Hattersley and Jessica Handy - Leaders of BOMA San Francisco's Energy & Environment Committee in 2015


BOMA San Francisco Members:

Please take a moment to learn about your Energy & Environment (E&E) leadership team for the commercial real estate industry in 2015.

If you are a BOMA member with an interest in environmentally sustainable business practices in the commercial real estate industry, please email John M. Bozeman, BOMA San Francisco's Manager of Government and Public Affairs at johnb@boma.com.

Click here to learn more about the E&E and why you should get involved.


Chair, Energy & Environment Committee

Jenna Hattersley, RPA, is a Property Manager at Harvest Properties. She is responsible for managing
the daily financial and operational performance of a 372,978 square foot, Class A commercial office park in Walnut Creek, CA. Jenna brings eight years of property management experience to her current property managerial position at Harvest. Her experience managing ten other San Francisco commercial buildings in prior roles, ranging from a thirty-two story, Class A office building to a California Historical Landmark building, has enabled Jenna to excel at maximizing operational efficiencies, implementing sustainable practices, and optimizing the tenant experience.

Jenna began her career at Shorenstein. After working at two different Shorenstein buildings, Jenna joined The Swig Company as an assistant property manager. In 2010 she joined The Swig Company’s South of Market properties and was responsible for four buildings, totaling 550,000+ sq. ft. Jenna is the chair of the BOMA SF Energy and Environment Committee which has ignited her concentration and specialization in sustainability and enabled her to focus on the introduction of sustainability initiatives into the properties she manages. Among the accomplishments she is most proud is the LEED Certification of two buildings including LEED EB- Platinum.

Jenna also recently joined the BOMA Oakland East Bay codes committee and is excited to get more involved in the BOMA Oakland East Bay network.
Jenna has remained active in the BOMA San Francisco Energy and Environmental Committee and assumed the Co-Chair position in 2013 where she facilitated audits and selected the winners of the BOMA Bay Area Earth Awards for the large building category. In 2014  Jenna led the committee as Chair and BOMA is honored to have her at the helm in 2015.


Co-Vice Chair, Energy & Environment Committee

Jessica Handy, LEED AP, is the West Coast Director for CodeGreen Solutions, Inc., a sustainability
 and energy engineering firm with over 300 million square feet in successful project completion. Jessica earned her LEED AP in December 2008 while working as a property manager for a large commercial real estate firm in New York City. There she was on the BOMA NY Board of Directors and the Co-Chair of BOMA-NY’s Green Buildings Committee. In this capacity she worked closely with the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability to help make NYC’s Greener, Greater laws as palatable as possible to property owners and managers. These laws became the model for many other jurisdiction’s energy disclosure laws across the country including the San Francisco Existing Commercial Building Energy Performance Ordinance. Ms. Handy joined CodeGreen Solutions in August 2011 and has since managed hundreds of thousands of square feet of ASHRAE Level audits, and Energy Star benchmarking projects for the ECB Ordinance and AB1103.

Jessica is vice-chairperson of the BOMA SF Energy & Environment Committee and serves on the Codes and Regulations committee, serves on the BOMA Greater Los Angeles Sustainability and Codes and Regulations committees and is a member of the BOMA California Board of Directors, and she is very honored to have been recognized as the BOMA SF Associate Member of the Year Award for 2014!

Ms. Handy earned her MS at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and her BA at the University of Washington. While in Seattle, recycling was just being established for single-family homes. As the self-appointed volunteer Recycling Coordinator for the Greek system, she sold 43 living groups, approx. 3500 students, on collaborating on a recycling program. Years later her bins were still in place and the program going strong.

Ms. Handy is the President-Elect of the Kiwanis Club of Santa Monica, a service organization that contributes over $150,000 in grants and scholarships annually to families in need. Recently Jessica has started participating (competing would be too ambitious of a word here!) in ½ marathon races. She believes that worldwide good sanitation, family planning and the reduction of the use and the waste of our earth’s resources will win us the Human Race.

BOMA California Energy Update - AB 1103 Review, Proposed Changes to Title 24, EV Charging Stations



AB 1103 Review

BOMA California representatives have recently participated in a workshop at the California Energy Commission (CEC) where their staff is seeking input regarding proposed changes to regulations for the Nonresidential Building Energy Use Disclosure Program - also known as the AB 1103 Program.

Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister and Commissioner Karen Douglas are leading an effort to review the regulations and make sure they implement the underlying legislation in the most efficacious way possible.

Throughout the last few years BOMA members have worked closely with the Energy Commission to help them better understand the policy issues related to the implementation of the AB 1103 regs on owners and managers.

Click here to review language. Many of the suggested changes our industry has provided in the past are now incorporated into the suggested regulations, including a new definition for “building operator,” clarification of when the information is to be provided, and clarification that tenant information is to be provided to owners/managers by utilities without the need for tenant authorization.

Since many of you have now had direct experience with implementing AB 1103 your input is that much more valuable.

Proposed Changes To Title 24

The official proposed changes by the California Energy Commission to Title 24, Part 6 (CA Energy Code) was released earlier this week. BOMA California is currently trying to analyze the proposal and prepare comments on behalf of industry.

The Notices of Proposed Action for the 2016 revisions to the Title 24 Part 6 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, and separately for the voluntary provisions in Title 24 Part 11, can be found here.

If you have experts at your company that can review the proposed regulations and provide feedback that would be helpful.  Send all comments to mhargrove@cbpa.com.

Final proposed codes are scheduled for adoption at the CECs May 2015 Business Meeting.


Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Over the past six months, there has been a growing level of controversy focusing on whether electric vehicle (EV) parking spaces should be accessible to those with disabilities. In response, the Building Standards Commission directed the Division of the State Architect (DSA) to convene a group of stakeholders to identify key issues and make recommendations that would be used by DSA in developing amendments to California’s disabled accessibility building standards. To date, DSA has conducted six workshops with the seventh planned for February 11th.

BOMA has been represented at each of these gatherings and the Governor’s Office is now actively engaged with this group as well.

Some advocates would like to see all EV-charging stations meet the dimensional specifications required for van-accessible parking spaces. This change would require parking spaces to be roughly 17-20 feet in width instead of the standard 8-9 feet, effectively taking out at least two parking spaces for each EV-charging station installed.

On behalf of our members, BOMA is supporting the currently held notion that EV-charging is a service and should be treated no differently than other services which require the standard 4% accessibility application rule. Requiring all stations meet the suggested requirements by the advocates for the disabled community would unnecessary complicate compliance and could ultimately cause less EV-charging installations to occur.


EV-Ready Building Standards Set to Take Effect on July 1, 2015

In response to an Executive Order issued by the Governor in late-2012, the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) and the Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) have adopted regulations to require the installation of Electric Vehicle (EV) ready infrastructure. As opposed to installing fully operational (and costly) charging stations for electric vehicles, these EV-ready building standards would be limited to items which would facilitate the later installation of the charging stations at a significantly reduced cost.

For example, new commercial buildings having parking lots containing more than 49 spaces will be required to have an electrical panel with enough empty plug slots to allow for the later installation of EV charging equipment. In addition, there will also need to be one-inch wide conduit (piping) provided for the later installation of the wiring connecting the electrical panel with a point in close proximity to the designated EV service space.

Environmental organizations and the Air Resource Board (ARB) had argued for the installation of fully functioning EV charging facilities, however, after hearing concerns expressed by us, the CBSC has chosen to move forward with only “EV-ready” regulations. Doing this also helps avoid issues related to disabled accessibility that will take much longer to resolve.

For commercial building parking facilities, the required number of EV-Ready parking spaces shall be 1 EV-ready space for every 50 parking spaces.

These new EV-Ready building standards will apply to projects for which the permit application is submitted to the local building department on or after July 1, 2015.


Friday, February 20, 2015

DEADLINE EXTENSION - Innovative EARTH Awards Applications Due on March 2, 2015


 



BOMA's Innovative EARTH Award highlights the unique, innovative measures members are implementing in pursuit of environmental sustainability. The application is short, easy to complete, and limited documentation is required. Any BOMA member may enter.
  • Innovations should seek to address these issues within the building: 
    • Energy conservation; 
    • Waste diversion; 
    • Water conservation; 
    • Hazardous materials management; 
    • Transportation; 
    • Tenant education; 
    • Or, any other new and interesting sustainable practice. 
An example of an innovation might be a vegetable garden for tenants, or a tenant carpool or vanpool coordinated by the building. Not sure what projects to submit? Click here to view all 2014 entries and view our motivational video, below.






Applications for BOMA's new Innovative Earth Award are due March 2, 2015, and will be reviewed by the Energy and Environment Committee. Winners will be announced at the BOMA Innovative Earth Award luncheon on April 23, 2015.

APPLY TODAY - Submit completed application to Nicole Cui. For assistance in completing the application, please contact Jenna Hattersley.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Innovative EARTH Awards Applications Available - Due on February 23, 2015


 



BOMA's Innovative EARTH Award highlights the unique, innovative measures members are implementing in pursuit of environmental sustainability. The application is short, easy to complete, and limited documentation is required. Any BOMA member may enter.
  • Innovations should seek to address these issues within the building: 
  • Energy conservation; 
  • Waste diversion; 
  • Water conservation; 
  • Hazardous materials management; 
  • Transportation; 
  • Tenant education; 
  • Or, any other new and interesting sustainable practice. 
An example of an innovation might be a vegetable garden for tenants, or a tenant carpool or vanpool coordinated by the building. Not sure what projects to submit? Click here to view all 2014 entries and view our motivational video, below.






Applications for BOMA's new Innovative Earth Award are due February 23, 2015, and will be reviewed by the Energy and Environment Committee. Winners will be announced at the BOMA Innovative Earth Award luncheon on April 23, 2015.

APPLY TODAY - Submit completed application to Nicole Cui. For assistance in completing the application, please contact Jenna Hattersley.

UPDATE: New Signage Requirements for Privately Owned Public Open Spaces (POPOS)


Click to enlarge.  Image from SPUR's guide to POPOS

UPDATE - February 10, 2015

BOMA San Francisco Members:

The San Francisco Chronicle has published an article regarding this law:  S.F. making sure high-rise owners ID hidden public spaces.  If your property has a Privately Owned Public Open Space (POPOS), please take a moment to review item.

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UPDATE - December 19, 2012

Please note that Supervisor David Chiu's legislation updating the signage requirements for Privately-Owned Publicly Accessible Open Spaces (POPOS) has been enacted.

The measure updated signage controls, requiring additional information be provided about the POPOS and regulating the size, design, and content of the plaques. A new well-designed logo brands these POPOS to help the public understand the individual spaces as part of a larger network. Installing the plaque at every pedestrian entrance will direct the public to interior and rooftop spaces.

ENFORCEMENT

Beginning January 2013, the Planning Department Zoning and Compliance Division will begin reviewing POPOS sites that were approved subject to the Downtown Plan (darker green icons on this map) for compliance.  Property owners of POPOS that are not in compliance with signage AND other Conditions of Approval related to open space requirements will be notified followed by a courtesy compliance period. Following the courtesy period, POPOS that are not in compliance will be subject to further enforcement action which may result in penalties per Section 176 of the Planning Code.

Please click here for more information.  Please email your BOMA Advocacy Team at kenc@boma.com and johnb@boma.com if you have any questions or feedback.

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UPDATE - October 22, 2012

Your BOMA San Francisco Advocacy team has been in communication with Board President Supervisor David Chiu’s office regarding legislation to update the signage requirements for Privately-Owned Publicly Accessible Open Spaces or POPOS. The measure was heard today and passed unanimously at the weekly meeting of the Land Use & Economic Development Committee.  It will now go to the Board of Supervisors for their consideration.

This legislation, if enacted, will not immediately affect existing POPOS signage. This has been accomplished via a reasonable approach to update the existing signs based on certain requirements. You can reference that information on page 15 of the current version of the measure, lines 15-22 [SEC 138 (i)(E)].  

If your property has a POPOS, please take a moment to review the new signage requirements, e.g., standardized height positioning, measurements, among others.

With regard to the contact information stipulation, SEC 138 (i)(A)(4) on page 14, a few BOMA members questioned the requirement to provide the email address of the person responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the open space.  Supervisor Chiu’s office and the Planning Department agreed to remove the email address at BOMA's request. Omitting the email address will allow the current code referencing the contacting information requirement to remain unchanged.

Please email your BOMA Advocacy Team at kenc@boma.com and johnb@boma.com if you have any questions or feedback.

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Original Post - June 8, 2012

BOMA San Francisco Members -

The San Francisco Planning Department has approved an ordinance introduced by Supervisor David Chiu that would change the signage requirements for privately owned publicly accessible open spaces (POPOS).  The Board of Supervisors must still review and vote to approve the ordinance.

This San Francisco Examiner article summarizes the issue nicely.  As the article and the SPUR guide to POPOS details, many of the spaces are in or around BOMA San Francisco member buildings.

Please take a moment to review the Planning Department's Executive Summary of the planning code amendments, examples of current and possible updated signage requirements and send your feedback to Ken Cleaveland at kenc@boma.com and John Bozeman at johnb@boma.com.

From the Executive Summary

The Way It Is Now

Privately-owned public open spaces (POPOS) are publicly accessible spaces in forms of plazas, terraces, atriums, small parks, and even snippets that are provided and maintained by private developers. In San Francisco, POPOS mostly appear in the Downtown office district area. Prior to 1985, developers provided POPOS under three general circumstances: voluntarily, in exchange for a density bonus, or as a condition of approval. The 1985 Downtown Plan created the first systemic requirements for developers to provide publicly accessible open space as a part of projects in C-3 Districts. The goal was to “provide in the downtown quality open space in sufficient quantity and variety to meet the needs of downtown workers, residents and visitors.The Downtown Plan also established guidelines that define eleven types of open spaces in Downtown. These guidelines prescribe detailed standards regarding each open space type size, location, access, seating, landscaping, food service, sunlight and wind, and public accessibility. Section 138 of the San Francisco Planning Code (herein after the “Code”) refers to these guidelines and establishes required amount of open space in C-3 Districts. It also regulates POPOS signage which is the focus of the proposed Ordinance. The Planning Department designed a customized plaque template for POPOS featuring a distinctive logo and required project sponsors to install the plaque at the space. However, while the Code specified what information to include in the plaque, it did not identify the location and the size of the plaque. As a result, many of these sites do not include proper informational signage, which has created a deficiency in informing the public about the existence of open space. Section 135 and 135.3 also provide provisions for POPOS in other Districts such as Downtown Residential and Eastern Neighborhood Mixed Use Districts. Some provisions in these two Sections regarding POPOS are not in consistence with provisions in Section 138.

The Way It Would Be

The proposed Ordinance would amend Section 138 to include more specific requirements and standards for the informational plaques of POPOS. In order to maintain consistency in the Code, Section 135 and 135.3 of the Code will also be amended to match the same standards.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

BOMA San Francisco Members Meet with San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed





BOMA San Francisco Members:

BOMA's Government Affairs Committee members have been meeting with public officials recently to represent your interests. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President, London Breed, spoke to our members recently to discuss her vision for her new leadership position and more.  Here is a brief update from the gathering:

Supervisor Breed's Background
  • Supervisor Breed was raised by her grandmother in public housing in the Western Addition and now resides in the Lower Haight. 
  • Breed attended public school in San Francisco and graduated from Galileo High School. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Davis and later earned a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.
  • More information here.
President of the Board of Supervisors
  • Will consider all input to allow for the best decisions for the City and County of San Francisco.
  • In her new role, Supervisor Breed looks forward to working with her peers.
City Government - Supervisor Breed's Perspective
  • There are a lot of redundant policies in San Francisco and Supervisor Breed looks to review byzantine processes to make public policy more effective.  
  • Clean Power SF 
    • A priority due to:
      • Most importantly, protecting/saving the environment;
      • This is an important decision for the future of San Francisco;
      • Help to make energy bills more affordable for the city's lower income residents;
      • And, this initiative will create local jobs.
    • BOMA San Francisco Member Involvement
      • Looking for feedback to help with the ease of implementation.
      • Doesn't want to force the program, but does want it to be a successful partnership.
  • Government Efficiency 
    • Supervisor Breed is for it.
    • Public dollars should be spent in the most efficient way on programs that work.
    • There are many long-term issues that need to be addressed on the short term, e.g., pensions, before new or current initiatives are expanded. 
      • Alternatively, we need to expand programs that work and help a majority of San Franciscans - especially children.
BOMA San Francisco members look forward to working with Supervisor London Breed in the near-future.  

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder's New Department Website



BOMA San Francisco Members:

Carmen Chu has unveiled the Assessor-Recorder’s new official website. The site has been overhauled to feature improved customer service, design, navigation, search, and accessibility through virtually any device, for BOMA San Francisco members and all San Franciscans. From the new homepage, users can find important alerts, locate detailed information about their property, and discover new events and programs.

With mobile users growing daily, the new site offers a range of social features allowing visitors to share and discover information on leading social media platforms. In addition, the website is fully responsive, delivering an easy to navigate interface whether users are on a computer, phone, or tablet.

The website was developed through a collaborative, data-driven process involving stakeholders, extensive user testing and analytics research, identifying top user requests and information. Major improvements were made to the site’s back-end technology infrastructure as well to support future growth. The new content management system will allow assessor-recorder staff to more quickly publish information and respond to taxpayer’s inquiries.

BOMA San Francisco members thank Assessor Chu and her staff for allowing them to provide input as the website was redesigned.  

Apture