§ 701. DEFINITIONS.

The following terms shall have the meanings set forth below.

“All-Electric” means the described system, Building, or project uses a permanent supply of electricity as the source of energy for all space conditioning (including heating and cooling), water heating (including pools and spas), cooking appliances, and clothes drying appliances. An All-Electric system, Building or project may include solar thermal collectors, but installs no natural gas or propane plumbing or equipment in or in connection with a Building, or within property lines of the premises, extending from the point of delivery at the gas meter.

“Alternative Daily Cover” or ‘’ADC” means materials, other than soil, that have been approved by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (“CalRecycle”) or a successor agency for use as a temporary overlay on an exposed landfill face. Material used as Alternative Daily Cover, including Green Material, does not qualify as material diverted from landfill.

“Beneficial reuse” means the reuse of material at a landfill that does not include ADC but shall include, but not be limited to, use of the material for or as the following: alternative intermediate cover; final cover foundation layer; liner operations layer; leachate and landfill gas collection system; construction fill; road base; wet weather operations pads and access roads; and, soil amendments for erosion control and landscaping. “Beneficial reuse” does not include disposal of material at a landfill.

“BioMass Energy Generation” means the controlled combustion, when separated from other solid waste and used for producing electricity or heat, of wood, wood chips, wood waste, and tree and brush prunings. “BioMass Energy Generation” does not include the controlled combustion of recyclable pulp or recyclable paper materials, or medical or hazardous waste.

“Building” means:

(1) Any structure used for support or shelter of any use or occupancy. “Structure” means that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner and permanently attached to the ground.

(2) “Building” includes office buildings, libraries, recreation centers, museums, airport buildings, public safety buildings, hospitals, clinics, education centers, transportation facilities, cruise ship terminals, marina buildings, convention facilities, and other structures.

(3) “Building” does not include any construction installation that is not part of a building, or any tunnel, roadway, or bridge, or any vehicle or mobile equipment. “Building” also does not include a structure, facility, or type of infrastructure that primarily provides for the collection, storage, treatment, delivery, distribution, and/or transmission of water, wastewater, and/or power utilities.

“CALGreen” means the California Green Building Standards Code (Cal. Code of Regs. Title 24, Part 11) as adopted by San Francisco Green Building Code.

“City department” means any department of the City and County of San Francisco. City department does not include any other local agency or any federal or State agency, including but not limited to, the San Francisco Unified School District, the San Francisco Community College District, the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure or the San Francisco Housing Authority.

“City-owned Facility” means any Building owned by the City and County of San Francisco. “City-owned Facility” includes City-owned Buildings or portions thereof that the City leases to non-City entities.

“City Leasehold” means a Building or portion thereof owned by others where the City is a tenant.

“City Representative” means the employee of the City who oversees the construction and/or demolition process for a municipal construction and/or demolition project and is responsible for ensuring that the contractor complies with all aspects of the contract documents.

“Commission” means the Commission on the Environment.

“Commissioning Process” means an independent process to ensure the attainment of quality facilities pursuant to this Chapter. The commissioning process verifies and documents that the energy using systems in buildings are installed, tested, and operate as designed.

“Construction and Demolition Debris” or “C & D Debris” means building materials and solid waste generated from construction and demolition activities, including, but not limited to: fully-cured asphalt; concrete; brick; lumber; gypsum wallboard; cardboard and other associated packaging; roofing material; ceramic tile; carpeting; fixtures; plastic pipe; and metals. “Construction and Demolition Debris” does not include refuse regulated under the 1932 Refuse Collection and Disposal Ordinance or sections of the Municipal Code that implement the provisions of that ordinance, or materials excavated from the public right-of-way. “Construction and Demolition Debris” does not include “hazardous waste,” as defined in California Health and Safety Code Sections 25100 et seq.

“Contractor” means the company or person to whom the City awards a contract for a municipal construction and/or demolition project. The contractor is responsible for complying with all aspects of Section 708 of this Chapter and for ensuring that all subcontractors, lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers also comply.

“Deconstruction” means the process of taking apart a structure with the primary goal of preserving the value of all useful building materials, so that they may be reused or recycled.

“Demolition Project” means the decimating, razing, ruining, tearing down or wrecking of any facility, structure, pavement, building, wall or fence, whether in whole or in part and whether interior or exterior.

“Department” means the Department of the Environment.

“Design Phases” means the generally-accepted stages of architectural design: conceptual design, schematic design, design development and construction documents.

“Design Development Phase” means the transitional phase of architectural design in which the design moves from the schematic phase to the construction document phase, in which the architect prepares drawings and other presentation documents to crystallize the design concept and describe it in terms of architectural, electrical, mechanical, and structural systems. In addition, the architect also prepares a statement of the probable project cost. This phase is often charted in percentages of completion leading up to the permit drawings. Such percentages refer to the level of details the plans have achieved and benchmarks established in the cost estimation process.

“Director” means the Director of the Department of the Environment or his or her designee.

“Disposal” means final deposition of material at a legally operating permitted landfill that does not include beneficial reuse or at a permitted transformation facility. A legally operating, permitted landfill includes Class III landfills and inert fills. Disposal of inert materials at inert fills or inert backfill sites does not constitute recycling.

“Diversion” means use of material for any purpose other than disposal in a landfill or transformation facility, such as source reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting activities that do not result in material being disposed at permitted landfills and transformation facilities.

“Diversion Rate” means the percentage of total material that is diverted from disposal at permitted landfills and transformation facilities through processes such as source reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting.

“Green Business Certification Inc.” or “GBCI” is the body providing independent third-party LEED certification and professional credentials recognizing excellence in green building performance and practice.

“Green Material” means any plant material that is either separated at the point of generation or separated at a centralized facility that employs methods to minimize contamination of waste streams. Green Material includes, but is not limited to, yard trimmings, untreated wood wastes, paper products, and natural fiber products. Green Material does not include treated wood waste, mixed demolition or mixed construction debris, manure, or plant waste from food processing facilities, alone or blended with soil.

“Hazardous Material” means any material defined as hazardous in California Health and Safety Code Sections 25100 et seq., as amended and 25500 et seq., as amended.

“Indoor Air Quality” or “IAQ” means the quality of air inside buildings, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Factors such as gases (including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, radon, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds), particulates, and microbial contaminants (mold, bacteria) that cause adverse health conditions can affect IAQ.

“Indoor Environmental Quality” means the overall state of conditions within a building that affect its occupants, including air quality, lighting, acoustics, thermal conditions, daylight, views, ergonomics, and controllability of lighting and thermal systems.

“Landfill” means a facility that (a) accepts for disposal in or on land non-hazardous waste such as household, commercial, and industrial waste, and waste generated during construction, remodeling, repair and demolition operations, and (b) has a valid current solid waste facilities permit from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recover (CalRecycle).

“Land-disturbing activity” means any movement of earth or a change in the existing soil cover or existing topography that may result in soil erosion from wind, or water, and the movement of sediments into or upon waters, lands, or public rights-of-way within the City and County of San Francisco, including, but not limited to building demolition, clearing, grading, grubbing, filling, stockpiling, excavating and transporting of land.

“Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” or “LEED®” is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the USGBC, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the following metrics: energy savings; water efficiency; CO2 emissions reduction; improved indoor environmental quality; and, stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. LEED provides building owners and operators with a concise framework for identifying an implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance solutions. LEED certified buildings are rated on a scale from lowest to highest: LEED Certified, LEED Silver, LEED Gold and LEED Platinum. Wherever specific LEED prerequisites or credits are cited, such references are to LEED version 4 (“v4”). More recent LEED versions may be used, provided the credits and points achieved are at least as stringent as LEED v4.

“LEED Accredited Professional with specialty” or “LEED AP with specialty” means an employee of a City department or a consultant retained by the City through a design or construction contract or other agreement who has passed the LEED AP with specialty accredita-tion exam issued by GBCI and maintained this credential through continuing education.

“LEED Online” is a web-based platform provided by USGBC for LEED project registration, team collaboration, document management, project progress monitoring, and access to forms, reviewer comments and certification credit language.

“LEED Project Administrator” means the individual member of the design team who registers a project with GBCI, and subsequently administers the LEED documentation and certification process for the project. For San Francisco municipal construction projects, the LEED Project Administrator shall be a LEED AP with specialty.

“LEED Scorecard” means a summary chart indicating all LEED prerequisites and credits being pursued and reasonably expected to be achieved for a municipal construction project.

“Major Renovation” means any unicipal1 Municipal Construction Project or renovation to an existing structure other than repair or addition. A Major Renovation may include, but is not limited to, a change in occupancy or use, or structural repair to an existing Building or facility; or remodeling, rehabilitation, reconstruction, historic restoration, or changes to the plan configuration of wall and full-height partitions, where the scope of work is sufficient to support LEED certification and extensive enough such that normal building operations cannot be performed while the work is in progress, and/or a new certificate of occupancy, or similar official indication that it is fit and ready for use, is required. Major Renovation does not encompass normal maintenance, reroofing, floor covering, painting, wallpapering, or changes to mechanical and electrical systems.

“Minimum Program Requirements” or “MPR” means the minimum requirements necessary for projects to become LEED certified, as determined by the USGBC.

“Mixed Construction & Demolition debris” or “Mixed C & D Debris” means “Construction and Demolition Debris” or “C&D Debris,” but excluding materials source-separated for reuse or recycling.

“Municipal Construction Project” includes any planning, design, building, or construction activity, including demolition, New Construction, Major Renovation, or building additions performed either by a City department at a Building, City-owned Facility, or City Leasehold, or by tenants at a City-owned Building or Facility.

“Natural Gas” shall have the same meaning as “Fuel Gas” as defined in the California Plumbing Code and Mechanical Code, as amended from time to time.

“New Construction” means construction from the ground up, including a new building envelope, and new structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

“Person” means a natural person, a firm, joint stock company, business concern, association, partnership or corporation or, to the extent permitted by law, governmental entity, including the City and County of San Francisco and its departments, boards and commissions for projects within the nine counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay, and its or their successors or assigns.

“Recover” or “Recovery” means any activity, including source reduction, deconstruction and salvaging, reuse, recycling and composting, which causes materials to be recovered for use as a resource and diverted from disposal.

“Recycle” or “Recycling” means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused, or reconstituted products which meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace. “Recycling” does not include “transformation,” as defined in Section 40201 of California Public Resources Code.

“Recycling Facility” means an operation or person that collects and processes materials for recycling.

“Registered Facility” means a facility that accepts mixed construction and demolition debris for processing and recycling and holds a valid registration issued by the City and County of San Francisco pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Environment Code.

“Registered Transporter” means a person who removes mixed construction and/or demolition (C&D) debris from a construction and/or demolition site, using a vehicle with more than two axles or two tires per axle (such as a large pickup truck with four tires on the rear axle or three-axle dump trucks), and hauling at least one (1) cubic yard of mixed construction and demolition debris. A “Registered Transporter” must hold a valid registration from the City and County of San Francisco and is obligated to take all mixed C&D material only to a Registered Facility.

“Reuse” means using an object or material again, either for its original purpose or for a similar purpose, without significantly altering the physical form of the object or material.

“Source Reduction” means any action which causes a net reduction in the generation of solid waste. Source reduction includes, but is not limited to, reducing the use of non-recyclable materials, replacing disposable materials and products with reusable materials and products, reducing packaging, reducing the amount of yard wastes generated, establishing garbage rate structures with incentives to reduce waste tonnage generated, and increasing the efficiency of the use of paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic, and other materials.

“Source-Separated Materials” means materials that have been separated or kept separate from the solid waste stream, at the point of generation, for the purpose of reuse, recycling or composting in order to return them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused, or reconstituted products which meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace.

“Tenant Improvements” are municipal construction projects that involve changing the interiors of commercial, institutional, or industrial properties and are undertaken by the City and/or tenants to accommodate the needs of tenants. They include floor and wall coverings, ceilings, partitions, lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, fire protection, and security, where the scope of work is sufficient to support LEED certification. Normal maintenance, reroofing, floor covering, painting or wallpapering, or changes to mechanical and electrical systems are not Tenant Improvements unless they are so extensive that normal building operations cannot continue while the work is in progress, and/or a new certificate of occupancy, or similar official indication that the building is fit and ready for use, is required.

The “United States Green Building Council” or “USGBC” is a non-profit organization committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.

“Waiver Request” means a waiver request made by a City department in accordance with Section 713.

“Whole Building Major Renovation Project” means a major renovation that includes replacement of the building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. A Whole Building Major Renovation Project may, in addition to the aforementioned replacement, involve replacing electrical distribution, lighting, fire protection, plumbing, and security systems, as well as changes to a building envelope such as window replacements or exterior wall insulation.

“Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Building” means a building where the amount of energy produced by on-site renewable energy resources is equal to the amount of the energy consumed annually by the building.

(Added and former Sec. 701 repealed by Ord. 88-04, File No. 030679, App. 5/27/2004; amended by Ord. , File No. 110854, App. 10/11/2011, Eff. 11/10/2011; Ord. , File No. 161287, App. 3/17/2017, Eff. 4/16/2017; Ord. , File No. 180002, App. 11/2/2018, Eff. 12/3/2018; Ord. , File No. 190972, App. 2/7/2020, Eff. 3/9/2020, Retro. 1/1/2020)

CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. .