Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/175080
Sarasota News Leader September 20, 2013 Page 65 For example, Damschroder said, 88.5 percent of the county's businesses are located outside the MECs. Additionally, a business job credit the County Commission approved on Sept. 12, 2012, is available only if the company hires a new employee who lives within the EEZ. However, Damschroder said, very few residences are in the zone. Byron said businesses have had difficulty showing they can meet the energy standards for the zone. Under those standards, she explained, a building must have an Energy Star rating of 60 or higher, "which essentially is about 10 percent more efficient than the average building [of the same] type." Second, a new building has to have an energy rating that is at least 5 percent above the state code requirement for new construction. Finally, if a building gets LEED or Florida Green Commissioner Nora Patterson. File photo Building certification, it is eligible to be in Another suggestion for the EEZ, posed by the EEZ. Damschroder, is to change the EEZ boundSUGGESTIONS aries to encompass all of the unincorporated areas of the county and include the zones adIn many cases, Byron said, buildings may be opted by municipalities. too old or inefficient to meet the energy standards or — because of the nature of tenants' Finally, Byron suggested rebranding the prouse of space in them — it may be difficult to gram with "a more representative name … determine the necessary data from meters that is actually appealing to businesses": Susthat record the electricity usage. tainable Energy Economic District (SEED). A performance-based standard, she pointed out, would make it easier for businesses to comply with the energy standards. She proposed that a company applying for the EEZ commit to a 10-percent reduction in energy usage over six months. That would lead to more energy efficiency, Byron noted, "but it wouldn't be an absolute standard, which is what we currently have." That "would communicate that we are growing local and sustainable businesses through this program," she added. After Damschroder and Byron asked for direction from the County Commission, Commissioner Nora Patterson said, "From my perspective, this whole concept has completely migrated from what it started to be. It was