9:

Florida Department of Community Affairs

Building Energy Rating System Steering Committee

April 6, 2011—Meeting III

Embassy Suites USF—3705 Spectrum Boulevard —Tampa, Florida 33612—1.813.977.7066

 

Meeting Objectives

ü  To Approve Regular Procedural Topics (Agenda, Report, Workplan and Meeting Schedule)

ü  To Review Member’s Comprehensive Programmatic Recommendations

ü  To Review Consensus Recommendations (Options) from Meeting II

ü  To Discuss and Evaluate Level of Acceptability of Proposed Recommendations and Options

ü  To Consider Public Comment

ü  To Adopt Consensus Recommendations for Submittal to Department of Community Affairs

ü  To Identify Needed Next Steps: Information, Assignments, and Agenda Items for Next Meeting

All Agenda Times—Including Public Comment and Adjournment—Are Subject to Change

Meeting Agenda, Wednesday, April 6, 2011

 9:00          Welcome and Opening                                                                                      (Jeff Blair)

                  Agenda Review and Approval                                                                           (Jeff Blair)

                  January 19, 2011 Facilitator’s Summary Report Review and Approval         (Jeff Blair)

                  Comprehensive Programmatic Recommendations Review

                  (Programmatic Recommendation Proposed/Submitted by Members)

                  Consensus Recommendations (Options) from Meeting II Review

                  (Worksheet Options Achieving 75% or Greater in Support Ranking from Meeting II)

                  Program Enhancement Recommendations Discussion, Evaluation and Ranking

                  (Acceptability Ranking of Comprehensive Programmatic Recommendations and Consensus Options)

                  General Public Comment                                                   

                  Adoption of Consensus Recommendations for Submittal to DCA

                  Next Steps

 3:00          Adjourn               

 

Contact Information and Project Webpage

Jeff Blair: jblair@fsu.edu ; http://consensus.fsu.edu/BERS-Steering-Committee/index.html

 

                           Membership, Overview and Project Scope

 

Steering Committee Members

Larry Banks, Vince Briones, Nathan Cross, Bill Eberle, Karol Kazmierczak, John Kiefer, Larry Maxwell, Ryan McCracken, Mike Nau, Keith Ponitz, Wendy Powell,  David Reed, Arlene Stewart, Dennis Stroer, and Paki Taylor.

 

Project Team By Representation

Engineers: Paki Taylor, Keith Ponitz, and Vince Briones                              

Architects: Larry Maxwell and Karol Kazmierczak

Public Utilities: Bill Eberle and David Reed                          

Contractors: Wendy Powell (insulation), Larry Banks (a/c), and Mike Nau (windows), Nathan Cross (building)

Raters: Dennis Stroer, John Kiefer, Arlene Stewart, and Ryan McCracken

           

DCA Staff: Mo Madani, Ann Stanton, and Rick Dixon

Facilitator: Jeff Blair, FCRC at FSU

Program Administrator: Philip Fairey, Tei Kucharski, M. Swami, and Rob Vieira

 

Project Objective

Review the current regulations, rules and business functions of the BERS and determine whether

improvement/changes to the program are needed.

 

Project Schedule:

Appoint Building Energy Rating System Steering Committee                         6-7/ 2010

Conduct a survey to obtain feedback from users on the BERS                                   6-7/ 2010

            Send out survey                                                                                   6 /29/2010

            Complete survey                                                                                  7/22/2010

Steering Committee 1st meeting           (Gainesville)                                        10/12/2010

            Introduction (DCA)

            Program review - Presentations

                        DCA - Statutes and Rule

                        FSEC – Program administration

                        National program review

Steering Committee 2nd meeting          (Tampa)                                               1/19/2011

            Review feedback from the survey (DCA)

            Identify key topical issues for evaluation

            Rank/prioritize key topical issues

            Formulate recommendations for action

Steering Committee 3rd meeting (Tampa)                                                        4/6/2011

            Finalize and adopt recommendations for submittal to DCA

 

Meeting Schedule

October 12, 2010—Gainesville; January 19, 2011—Tampa; and April 6, 2011—Tampa.

 

BERS Steering Committee Procedural Guidelines

 

PARTICIPANTS’ ROLE

ü  The Steering Committee process is an opportunity to explore possibilities. Offering or exploring an idea does not necessarily imply support for it.

ü  Listen to understand. Seek a shared understanding even if you don’t agree.

ü  Be focused and concise—balance participation & minimize repetition. Share the airtime.

ü  Look to the facilitator(s) to be recognized. Please raise your hand to speak.

ü  Speak one person at a time. Please don’t interrupt each other.

ü  Focus on issues, not personalities. Avoid stereotyping or personal attacks.

ü  To the extent possible, offer options to address other’s concerns, as well as your own.

ü  Participate fully in discussions, and complete meeting assignments as requested.

ü  Serve as an accessible liaison, and represent and communicate with member’s constituent group(s).

 

FACILITATORS’ ROLE (FCRC Consensus Center @ FSU)

ü  Design and facilitate a participatory Steering Committee process.

ü  Assist the Steering Committee to build consensus on a package of recommendations for delivery to the Department of Community Affairs.

ü  Provide process design and procedural recommendations to staff and the Steering Committee.

ü  Assist participants to stay focused and on task.

ü  Assure that participants follow ground rules.

ü  Prepare and post agenda packets, worksheets and meeting summary reports.

 

GUIDELINES FOR BRAINSTORMING

ü  Speak when recognized by the Facilitator(s).

ü  Offer one idea per person without explanation.

ü  No comments, criticism, or discussion of other's ideas.

ü  Listen respectively to other's ideas and opinions.

ü  Seek understanding and not agreement at this point in the discussion.

 

THE NAME STACKING PROCESS

ü  Determines the speaking order.

ü  Participant raises hand to speak. Facilitator(s) will call on participants in turn.

ü  Facilitator(s) may interrupt the stack (change the speaking order) in order to promote discussion on a specific issue or, to balance participation and allow those who have not spoken on an issue an opportunity to do so before others on the list who have already spoken on the issue.

 

ACCEPTABILITY RANKING SCALE

During the meetings, members will be asked to develop and rank options, and following

discussions and refinements, may be asked to do additional rankings of the options if requested by members and staff. Please be prepared to offer specific refinements or changes to address your reservations. The following scale will be utilized for the ranking exercises:

Acceptability

Ranking

Scale

4 = acceptable,  I agree

3 = acceptable, I agree with minor reservations

2 = not acceptable, I don’t agree unless major reservations addressed

1 = not acceptable

Steering Committee Consensus Process

 

STEERING COMMITTEE’S CONSENSUS PROCESS

 

The Steering Committee will seek to develop a package of consensus-based recommendations for submittal to the Florida Department of Community Affairs.  General consensus is a participatory process whereby, on matters of substance, the members strive for agreements which all of the members can accept, support, live with or agree not to oppose.  In instances where, after vigorously exploring possible ways to enhance the members’ support for the final decision on a recommendation, and the Steering Committee finds that 100% acceptance or support is not achievable, final decisions will require at least 75% favorable vote of all members present and voting.  This super majority decision rule underscores the importance of actively developing consensus throughout the process on substantive issues with the participation of all members and which all can live with.  In instances where the Steering Committee finds that even 75% acceptance or support is not achievable, publication of recommendations will include documentation of the differences and the options that were considered for which there is more than 50% support from the Steering Committee.

 

The Steering Committee will develop its recommendations using consensus-building techniques with the assistance of the facilitator.  Techniques such as brainstorming, ranking and prioritizing approaches will be utilized.  Where differences exist that prevent the Steering Committee from reaching a final consensus decision (i.e. with support of at least 75% of the members) on a recommendation, the Steering Committee will outline the differences in its documentation.

 

The Steering Committee’s consensus process will be conducted as an open process consistent with applicable law.  Steering Committee members, staff, and facilitator will be the only participants seated at the table. Only Steering Committee members may participate in discussions and vote on proposals and recommendations. The facilitator, or a Steering Committee member through the facilitator, may request specific clarification from a member of the public in order to assist the Steering Committee in understanding an issue. Observers/members of the public are welcome to speak during the public comment period provided at each meeting, and all comments submitted on the public comment forms provided in the agenda packets will be included in the facilitator’ summary reports.

 

Facilitator will work with staff and Steering Committee members to design agendas and worksheets that will be both efficient and effective.  The staff will help the Steering Committee with information and meeting logistics.

 

To enhance the possibility of constructive discussions as members educate themselves on the issues and engage in consensus-building, members agree to refrain from public statements that may prejudge the outcome of the Steering Committee’s consensus process.  In discussing the Steering Committee process with the media, members agree to be careful to present only their own views and not the views or statements of other participants. In addition, in order to provide balance to the Steering Committee process, members agree to represent and consult with their stakeholder interest groups.

 

Facilitation, Meeting and Process Design by Jeff A. Blair

FCRC Consensus Center

Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium

Florida State University

Morgan Building, Suite 236

2035 East Paul Dirac Drive

Tallahassee, Florida 32310

Phone: (850) 644-6320; Fax: (850) 644-4968

jblair@fsu.edu

http://consensus.fsu.edu

 

 

"The purpose of the Consortium is to serve as a neutral resource to assist citizens and public and private interests in Florida to seek cost-effective solutions to public disputes and problems through the use of alternative dispute resolution and consensus building."  --F.S. Public Postsecondary Education  §1004.59

 

The Consortium based at Florida State University in Tallahassee and University of Central Florida in Orlando, provides dispute resolution and consensus building service, education, training and research to build a broader understanding of the value of collaborative approaches and create a cadre of citizens, leaders, professionals and students skilled in using collaborative consensus building and conflict resolution processes.

 

Our mission is to bring Floridians together to learn to transform unproductive conflict into cost-effective, sustainable solutions.  The Consortium serves as a catalyst to create supportive policies and to help educate statewide on the appropriate use of mediation, facilitation and other collaborative problem-solving approaches to resolve a wide range of public policy issues.

 

The Consortium offers neutral technical assistance to a wide range of professionals, agency staff and private citizens and organizations engaged in public problems throughout Florida.  We help to design and implement efforts for intergovernmental collaboration, community and  public problem-solving, and land-use and environmental dispute resolution.  We also provide referral services connecting stakeholders and potential users with trained dispute resolution professionals.

PUBLIC COMMENT FORM

 

The Florida Department of Community Affairs and the Building Energy Rating System Steering Committee encourage written comments—All written comments will be included in the meeting summary report.

 

Name:                                                                                               

Organization:                                                                                   

Meeting Date:                                                                      

 

Please make your comment(s) as specific as possible, and offer suggestions to address your concerns.

 

Please limit comment(s) to topics within the scope of the Steering Committee.

Any personal attacks or derogatory language will be discarded.

 

The facilitator may, at his discretion, limit public comment to a maximum of three-minutes (3) per person, depending on the number of individuals wishing to speak.

 

COMMENT:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Please give completed form(s) to the Facilitator for inclusion in the meeting summary report.