. president vietor: sounds fine. any other items on the calendar? any questions on the staff report? any other public comment on this item? next item please. >> if any commissioner has any new business item they wish to propose at this time. commissioner caen: i see we have -- >> other places are talking about a more. -- it more. yes. commissioner caen: i was wondering where we are standing on this. >> we do not have plans to make any change in flouride in the water. we have not received concerns

are complaints. there is an issue about lowering the level. >> i think what you're referring to is the announcement the other day by the u.s. epa to seize control about moving forward with the recommendation to lower the target level. we have a target level of slightly less [unintelligible] they were recommending moving it down to something like .7 parts per million. there is no regulatory process that would drive that, but we are looking at this information. we will consider the pros and cons of doing it. it will be a very minor change. >> there is a range of .7 to 1.2. >> that is the current range.

they are pushing the lower end of that hai believe. commissioner caen: thank you for the information. president vietor: what did you see the current amount is? >> the target is not exact, but slightly less than 1 part per million. president vietor: thank you. commissioner caen: you will not believe me when i bring this up. but when we run off on our pursuit of bottled water, i recalled that was something that we could not do certain things. i thought it might be an

interesting opportunity to go back and look at this with america's cup coming here. i thought it would be a good way of promoting san francisco as well as our water. >> as long as they are compostable. it doesn't affect the ethanol debate. president vietor: any other items? next item. >> the report of the general manager. >> i wanted to mention that we have been doing operational statistics for the last couple of months. there is the general knowledge about how the business is running and we sent a copy of that to you. we will be putting it up on the main web site.

i wanted to do a quick review publicly of the graphs that we are putting out on a weekly basis. it is in the communications portion of the binder. this is not intended to be easy to read. it can be better than that, maybe. the first of these items is precipitation. this year is so far the wettest year on record since 1919 for our system. if you can see the line that is only partially there, what that means is that the water in 2011, it is now head of any year to date. if we keep going at that rate, it will be over 200% of normal.

we have already received 42 inches of rain this year. that is much better thank you. we are an incredibly strong positions in terms of total storage. that includes the water bank that is already full for the year. we have very high system storage. last year was a pretty good year for us. the next one shows usage in the total surface area. the good and bad news is that the red line is lower than any other line. it shows they are lower than 2009 and the lower -- at a lower than the average for five years. the economy and the weather being so cold has really reduced the water usage in our service

area. that is great news on one hand but it is not good news in revenues. i think all but one or two weeks of the year was lower than it has been on average the last five years. the next graph is just san francisco. you won't notice as much of a seasonal swing. it is lower than almost every week of the entire year. the water delivery is down because people are conserving and the economy and the cold weather. the next is a combination -- this is waste water. this is normally what we treat. there have been more peaks in the last four months than the

last five years. we expect we will see climate change more and more. it will give you an idea of the system being something like 80 million gallons a day. next is our generation -- you'll notice there is a huge spike. that is the sunset coming on. the amount of kleine power being generated in san francisco toward the end of the year was down because the weather was really cloudy and pretty for -- poor. the next item is hydro

generation. those five lines running through the middle of the screen, as you imagine, we don't get the big airconditioning spikes in the summer time that you get in the central valley. there is a lot of seasonality in terms of what power we can generate. most of the time in march through august or september, we are generating an excess of the power that we use in the city. the red line towards the end of the graph, we have had so much water we have been generating and we are earning in additional revenue. we are clearing out the reservoirs for spring runoff. the non-greenhouse gas electricity.

it has been a better year than normal. we have been able to generate a lot of additional revenue and energy. we are trying to get the literacy of the organization on the operations that we do and we will be able to look at that also. president vietor: can i ask a question of one of those slides? the water usage spiking. i don't know if it is the third or fourth slide. >> total? president vietor: i was just wondering, does something additional happen? i could not really quite see it. >> done every two weeks. president vietor: is that when bills are received? is there an educational peace

that feeds into that spiking -- piece that feeds into that spiking? >> the bills don't go out and a lot like that -- in a lump like that. president vietor: the san francisco focused -- i wonder if there is a correlation between conservation. >> i think it is more weather related. >> they are very much whether related. we have a hot spell, we have a cold spell. it is based on a regular whether -- irregular weather patterns. >> they are going out all the time. president vietor: it is interesting to see because conservation is so much greater

right now. to be able to track because of that, i understand what you're saying. the weather spikes. once we do a push to get people to conserve, he does that affect the conservation -- does that affect the conservation as well? >> we can assess it externally. there are lots of ways to capture the variables, but it is a challenge for us. >> the trend is that almost every two-week period has been lower. we have to figure out how much

as conservation, how much as the economy and how much is the weather. >> as we get the automatic meter reading installed, we should be able to get a sense of that. a hot spell followed by a cold spell will wash out. >> with the new system, we will be able to know hour by hour usage. president vietor: and maybe test some programming, right? thank you. >> no surprise. i like these. [laughter] i think sitting on this side of the days you see the puc from a narrow angle. these charts remind us. >> that are very global.

president vietor: from that standpoint, it is very helpful. i hope you can distribute those on a periodic basis. >> the next item up is 525 golden gate update by sophie campbell. >> good afternoon. i am the project manager for our new headquarters at but hundred 25 golden gate. i want to give you an update on the project and to review of the project budget. i will wait until the slide

comes up. all right. hopefully, most of you have noticed the project going up next door, adjacent to the court house. we are now above our adjacent neighbor. we added a seventh story this week. according to the construction schedule, we are at about 25% completion. as the building rises, you gain economies and are able to shave days off the schedule, but with the weather our concrete has been very temperamental. one of the sustainability stories of this project is the very high some of replacement in our concrete mix -- the very high amount of replacement in our concrete mix, a 75% ash and

other materials. we are going to top of the building in april. then we will begin installation of the curtain wall system, the exterior glass and stone skin of the building. that will be completed in september. biotech is almost completed. we will complete it in a couple -- bauuyout is almost completed. we will complete it in a couple of months. we have completed 91%, which means we have 9% of the construction value remaining to bid and contract. once we complete bayouts, -- buyouts, we can set in our contract with that cost. with local work force goals, we are currently achieving 45% local work force in our contracts. i want to assure you this slide.

it has a couple of pictures of the curtain wall mockup that was completed in november. the pictures represent the corner at golden gate and polk street, the second level. the other picture represents the polk street side, where the corner is the glass and then you have a panel of granite. this depicts the extrusions on the south elevation. the markup was completed in november and underwent testing for the curtain wall system. tests confirmed we have a very sound curtain wall system. the first thing i want to review today on the project is the construction costs. in october, bids came in above budget in the following areas -- mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and interiors. this is largely due to the

complexity of the design and our sustainability goal. construction costs of work last estimated at 50% completion of design documents. details of some of the more complex elements of the building had not yet been completed. delays in design also caused costs in terms of construction getting ahead of coordination of mechanical, electrical, in conduit, which added cost to the bid. while labor costs came in higher than estimated, the biggest impact has been new technology in three materials inc. into the design of the building. fort -- and green materials which have been incorporated into the design of the building. anything that is not industry standard comes in with a premium above budget. in the case of interior bids, we

have changed some of the materials to reduce the impact of the higher bids. at the end of the day, we are $3 million above the original budget, 2% higher. we will implement construction contingency fund to fund these costs. -- we will implement construction contingency funds to fund these costs. the second part of this review is non-construction costs. we have increased the budget substantially for the following reasons. the first is furniture. the original budget only included funds for workstations, and we are finding that in order to meet requirements and the unique features of the building we need to provide new furniture for all of our spaces, including private spaces and conference facilities. the primary conference room is located on the north side of the building at the north east corner. that is correct.

as the building rises, it becomes more narrow, requiring a shaped table. in general, it is smaller than our current furniture accommodates. the purchase on furniture is $7 million and the original budget for workstations only is $4 million. the planning efforts with puc divisions, we have developed a budget for building communications systems including telecom, security, and a v equipment needs for the data center, conference facilities, and into credit controls for the building system. the network system is critical to operate the building as a smart building. one of the unique sustainability features of the building is that we will have fully integrated building systems. all building systems will be able to talk to each other, maximizing efficiency. window shades, lighting, heating, and cooling wall talk to each other.

this will increase the efficiency of the building and comfort of the occupants. there are monitors at this -- monitors outside the building for the movement of the sun. it directs shades to move up and down over the course of the day. as shades move down, lighting inside increases. there are zones within each floor for mechanical and lighting so that it is colder on the north side than the south side it adjusts the system appropriately and minimizes -- and maximizes the efficiency of those systems. we will have integrity controls that will work in unison together instead of controls that do not communicate. without communication between the systems, this results in waste. as a smart building, all the building systems will be controlled through the building not work, requiring the network to go into the building before we can start commissioning the building. building systems integration was not part of the original design or original budget for the

building. this cutting edge technology for reducing the building's impact on the environment is common practice in europe and asia. so it is not new technology. but it is not practiced in the united states building industry. this is 3.6 of the costs. another 2.1 is to modified -- is to modify our phone system. we also need to allocate funds for recall -- for relocating the puc to the new headquarters. the total for non-construction costs is $11 million. while these costs for moving into the new building and setting up new systems were anticipated, my predecessor had expected funding through the

operating budget. we are coming with a plan to include the costs in the project budget. we propose to revise the project budget from $191 million to $201 million, a 7% increase. the non-construction furniture, building communications, and relocation budget would be funded by energy conservation bonds and hetchy power savings. this is a great candidate for the energy conservation bond. todd is available to explain any questions you may have on the source of these funds. i can answer any questions you have on the budget. thank you. >> you will notice these additional funds you will see in the budget discussion over the next month. you will see it as part of the budget discussion. if you have any questions, we would be happy to answer. >> i have a question. did you say that we are meeting

the local work force that we had projected? >> we have established a goal of 50%, so we are getting there. >> i am sorry. did you say we are getting there? >> we are at 45% right now. >> this building is similar to the concept in the federal building? >> yes and no. it is a different design and different approaches, and we are installing shades. >> so the problems in the federal building will be -- >> that is why my last comment, yes. >> when these budget variances come up, do you factor in life cycle savings as well? i mean, if -- >> the things we are looking at, like having the smart building with integrated systems, will make for savings. we have not been able to

calculate those and show you. as we get it set up correctly, we will know the savings on the other side. we do not have an exact calculation yet. >> as far as water, energy, and renewable energy, yes. it is a challenge because of what we actually pay for energy. it is more of a demonstration. >> it would be great to get that in our next update on what those numbers are really penciling out to be. understanding is a demonstration. >> we can tell you what this building will cost and how much it will use compared to a similar building of this size. we know it is vastly different. >> i had one other question on all the old furniture. i guess you have to buy all new furniture. what is going to happen? i know there is an ordinance for materials, right? so all the old wood and steel frame stuff i imagine now gets recycled as part of our green

building ordinance. but all of that old furniture -- i do not know if it is covered by that. maybe it could be folded into community benefits work or rebuilding the south facility. >> there is a process. first, we put it on to the virtual warehouse for the city. our old furniture may still be new to somebody else in the city. there is a hierarchy of where it can be used. the hierarchy includes nonprofits. i would not expect it would go to waste. if you have balked to market street -- walked to market street, you can tell what you're people moved in. in some years, it is built in furniture because regret special deals with the landlord. in other years, it looks like cardboard. in other years, it looks like very good furniture. there is no consistency to it at all. the biggest problem right now is that it is all fairly tall. the whole building, the idea is

like from the outside. if you bring in tall furniture, you cannot get the light, which is a leed problem. >> one would have imagined we would have had this discussion earlier. it is a different point of view depending on where you are in the city. public works is managing this problem. they view it as you build a building and give it to the people who own it to take care of it. there is a sense that in most cases if you are looking at laguna honda, how you move furniture or people is somebody else's problem. my view is that it is one to it -- is one building and you should know all the costs. until we were able to go through what was in and what was not in, we were not able to figure that out. since then, we have been trying to cut to get back within budget. we have cut a variety of things. the things that are left are items we think are necessary. >> you have one other funding

source as hetchy power settings. is that less consumption in the building? >> we are producing so much power this year at times we would normally have purchased power, that is saving us money. we are not only not buying it, but we are selling it. that combination is giving us additional money. >> any other questions on 525 golden gate? thank you so much. >> mr. rydstrom? >> todd rydstrom, assistant general manager and cfo. i have the next two items on the general managers' report. i know this commission and commissioner moran have been looking to us to provide additional succinctly worded

accomplishments and efficiencies. what is before you in your packet is a document, 18 pages. i will put it on the overhead briefly so the public can see the front cover. what this document does is it summarizes the hard work of two individuals in particular, if i could ask them to stand briefly. ty june from communications, and francis lee, the deputy cfo. it is really a code -- an accomplishment. we have come before you and we have documents earlier on your calendar. you received a comprehensive annual financial report. this is that detailed reading of 245 pages that i find to be very interesting, including 10- year histories of operations and key statistics. this also is france'es lee's had

work. we submitted that for an award. to assist -- to distill this big document into 18 pages that are more user-friendly that we can take to neighborhood groups showing how average bills -- on page 12, how an average bill from the water department compares to a customer's average cable bill, shows just how affordable our rates here are getting, the 24/7 service we provide. we are looking to you to make enhancements every year. we will publish it annually and updated. both the general manager and i will be working with the staff to make any edits or enhancements that you would like to see. >> one question i had was just the status. is this a draft we are looking at, or is this the final