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View recently adopted ordinances as of January 13, 2009 NOT YET CODIFIED OR INTEGRATED IN THIS SITE. (pdf file)

Ordinances enacted through January 13, 2009

Copyrighted by SANTA CLARA COUNTY CODE & Municipal Code Corporation, 1998.

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Sec. C3-51. Definitions.

The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:

(a) "Addition" means new construction square footage added to an existing structure.

(b) "Applicant" means any person or entity applying to the County for a building permit to undertake any covered project within the County.

(c) "Compliance Official" means the Building Official as defined in Section C1-4 of the Santa Clara County Ordinance Code or his or her designee.

(d) "Compliance threshold" means the minimum number of points or rating level of a green building rating system that must be attained for a particular covered project, as set forth in the Standards for Compliance in Section C3-53.

(e) "Covered project" means any building permit application for new construction or renovations subject to Standards for Compliance as set forth in Section C3-53.

(f) "Green building" means a whole systems approach to the design, construction, and operation of buildings that substantially mitigates the environmental impacts of buildings. Green building practices recognize the relationship between the natural and built environments and seek to minimize the use of energy, water and other natural resources and provide a healthy, productive indoor environment.

(g) "Green building certification" means verification to meet the certification requirements of Build it Green or LEED.

(h) "Green building compliance" means written documentation by a qualified green building professional demonstrating that a covered project will meet the green building standards for compliance listed under Section C3-53.

(i) "Green building project checklist" means a checklist or score developed for the purpose of calculating a green building rating.

(j) "Green building rating system" means the rating system associated with specific green building criteria and used to determine compliance thresholds, as set forth in green building standards for compliance under Section C3-53. Examples of rating systems include, but are not limited to, the LEED and green point rated systems.

(k) "GreenPoint Rated" means a residential green building rating system developed by the Build it Green organization.

(l) "GreenPoint Verification" means verification of compliance by a certified GreenPoint Rater, resulting in green building certification by Build it Green including green points allocation across all of the resource categories.

(m) "LEED" means the "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

(n) "LEED Certification" means verification to meet the standard of Certified or better by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and resulting in LEED certification of the project by the USGBC.

(o) "Major remodel" means any remodel that exceeds the permit valuation thresholds established within the Standards for Compliance in Section C3-53.

(p) "Minor remodel" means any remodel for which the permit valuation of the construction is less than the value established for a "major remodel" per the standards for compliance in Section C3-53.

(q) "New residences" means the construction of a new single-family dwelling.

(r) "Qualified green building professional" means a person trained through the USGBC as a LEED Accredited Professional or through Build it Green as a Certified Green Point Rater, or a person with similar qualifications if acceptable to the Compliance Official.

(s) "Rebuild" means any alteration or modification to an existing building that is not a "Remodel" as defined under Ordinance Code Section C1-10.1 and thus is considered a new building.

(t) "Remodel" means any alteration or modification to an existing building that is a "remodel" as defined under Ordinance Code Section C1-10.1.

(u) "Self verify" means verification submitted by an applicant that a covered project will meet the standards for compliance under Section C3-53.

(v) "Square footage" for the purposes of calculating additional or new construction square footage means the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building, as measured from the rough exterior walls, or (if applicable) from the centerline of the common wall between two attached buildings. Square footage also includes the total area of any attached garage, carport, porch or similar attached structure or feature that is both (a) covered, and (b) greater than 50 percent enclosed by perimeter walls. It includes the horizontal area of an interior stairway at each of the two or more stories to which the stairway provides access. An attic space that has a minimum clearance of seven feet in each of the three dimensions for at least 70 contiguous square feet shall be included. Where the vertical distance between any floor and the ceiling above exceeds 15 feet, floor area shall be counted twice.

(Ord. No. NS-1100.105, 12-16-08)

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