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New water harvesting ordinance.

Being green means different things in different parts of the country. In places like St. Louis or Seattle, eco-friendly construction standards apply only to city-owned or city-funded buildings. In Boston green construction codes also apply to major commercial or residential developments.  New York City has taken very bold steps, with 127 eco-friendly initiatives to green the city by 2030…to date, 14 cities and 1 state – Connecticut – require private developers to meet green building standards.

Locally, in Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently signed into law the Los Angeles Green Building ordinance – and it is being heralded as “the most far reaching plan of any big city in America to promote green building practices in the private sector.”

The ordinance would reduce the City’s carbon emissions by more than 80,000 tons by 2012, the equivalent of taking 15,000 cars off the road – this objective surpasses any other major city in the country. (Now if they’d only find a way get 15,000 cars off the road.)

“Given that greenhouse gas emissions from buildings account for more than 40% of global warming pollution, the Los Angeles Green Building ordinance is a good first step towards building an energy-efficient, climate friendly, sustainable city,” observes Global Green USA President Matt Petersen. “While certainly not an end destination, it is important that Los Angeles has become the first big city to codify a private sector green building program.”

Above and beyond, Mayor Villaraigosa has pledged to reduce the city’s carbon emissions 35% below 1990 levels by 2030 (Will he stay in office that long – which is longer than Tom Bradley’s mayorial rein – or will this pledge be adopted by forthcoming mayors?). The goal goes beyond the targets set in the Kyoto Protocol and is the greatest reduction target of any large US city. Logistically, a move such as this what necessitate curtailing L.A.’s  coal-dependent municipal utility and a move toward electricity from renewable sources.

The new standards go into effect Nov. 1^st, for commercial projects and for high-rise residential development, and on May 1, 2009 for low-rise residential projects. It applies to existing buildings under certain conditions in redevelopment projects, and it outlines a host of other requirements for builders.

The L.A. Green Building ordinance requires all projects at or above 50,000 square feet – or 50 units – comply with the general LEED-certified standard. The US Green Building Council awards LEED silver, gold and platinum certifications based on the level of environmental sustainability met by a developer.

The City has agreed to work with builders to speed up approvals and to remove obstacles in the municipal code for elements of sustainable building design, such as green rooftops, cisterns and permeable pavement. City officials said about 150 new and renovated buildings, or about 7.5 million square feet, would be covered by the ordinance each year.

In six months, the Los Angeles City Council will review and decide whether a stricter standard should be adopted. “We will continue to push the envelope,” said Council President Eric Garcetti. He said he expects that “in a couple of years, every single building over 25,000 square feet will be covered” by the new law. By this summer, he said, the city expects to raise the bar for its municipal construction to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “silver” — a higher standard that would match San Francisco’s threshold.

L.A.’s Green Building ordinance raises the number of US municipalities that have enacted green building rules to somewhere around 120 and growing. California cities are enacting a variety of green building rules, as we will now share…

SAN FRANCISCO

Not considered part of Southern California, but worth mentioning for obvious reasons…

San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom, has proposed an ordinance that some consider to be the most stringent green building requirements in the nation.

The ordinance would require commercial and residential projects over 25,000 sf or 75 feet in height to meet the base level of LEED certification starting in 2008. Large commercial projects would have to achieve LEED Silver certification starting in 2009 and LEED Gold staring in 2010. Large residential projects would have to achieve LEED Silver starting in 2010. Mid-sized buildings would have to complete a LEED checklist but would not be required to achieve any LEED credits or points (the basis for the rating system) until 2009. Starting then, mid-size commercial buildings would have to achieve three LEED credits. The bar would be raised to four points in 2010, six points in 2011 and seven points in 2012.

Small and mid-size residential projects, starting in 2009, would be required to achieve 25 points from GreenPointRated, a rating system of BuildItGreen, a professional nonprofit membership organization that promotes energy- and resource-efficient buildings in California. The hurdle would increase to 50 points in 2010 and then 75 points in 2011 or 2012. The earlier increase would occur for multifamily residential buildings with more than five units.

Cumulative benefits this ordinance is expected to achieve through 2012 include: reducing CO2 emissions by 60,000 tons; saving 220,000 megawatt hours of power; saving 100 million gallons of drinking water; reducing waste and storm water by 90 million gallons of water; reducing construction and demolition waste by 700 million pounds; increasing the valuations of recycled materials by $200 million; reducing automobile trips by 540,000; and increasing green power generation by 37,000 megawatt hours.

In addition, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has approved a new local subsidy for residents and businesses who install solar power.  The solar incentive plan provides between $3,000 and $5,000 for a home installation and up to $10,000 for businesses. With existing state and federal incentives, the city subsidy could eliminate more than half the cost of a solar installation.

“It’s groundbreaking,” notes San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, who assisted in the development the plan. “I think it will help ensure that San Francisco is going to be the solar capital of the world.”

WEST HOLLYWOOD

Last year, Newsweek magazine proclaimed that West Hollywood is the American city that can lay claim to the most comprehensive green building standards. This tiny city occupies 1.9-square-milea Los Angeles and boasts 37,000 people, making it the city with the highest population density west of the Mississippi. The West Hollywood ordinance, adopted in October 2007, grants special consideration to LEED-certified projects, establishes development standards for all new residential and commercial projects, in addition to remodels and tenant improvements. The only exemptions: duplexes and single-family homes.

Requiring so many of the city’s real estate projects to meet green building standards puts West Hollywood in the forefront of the move to thrust eco-friendly design closer to the mainstream of architecture and planning.

City officials reveal that thinking about smaller projects was the only way to make a big dent in West Hollywood’s carbon footprint. “We thought it was important to involve everybody [to be part of the solution],” noted councilmember Abbe Land, coauthor of the new ordinance.

A set of rules, developed with the help of Global Green USA, insists that a project has earned at least 60 points (from a menu of 160 possible points) before developers are granted a city construction permit. Points are granted for planting canopy trees (5 points), using exposed concrete floors (5 points),  bamboo or other rapidly renewable floors (up to 3 points), Cellulose wall insulation (2 points), Energy Star-certified lighting (3 points), energy-efficient windows and insulation (up to 15 points), tankless water heaters (2 points) and a green roof (8 points). Projects can earn up to 10 points (1 point per kilowatt) for using solar panels. In addition, all developers must meet mandatory requirements, such as reducing to 20 percent the construction waste they haul to the dump, making all roofs solar panel-ready, and using low-volatility paints and Energy Star appliances.

Once they get to 90 points, developers can choose between eight incentives, including expedited permitting and variances, like approval of an extra housing unit.

The new ordinance is tied to existing green building certification standards. Projects receiving “a minimum rating of ‘Certified’ with the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) shall be exempt from the point requirements of the West Hollywood Green Building Program.”

All projects scheduled for completion after October 1, 2007, must adhere to the provisions of Ordinance 07-762.

It’s been calculated that West Hollywood’s green initiatives will add “roughly 10 percent” to the cost of construction.

The city’s homegrown green plan is already drawing enquiries from other municipalities around the country. Global Green USA, which helped develop West Hollywood’s system, has already received calls from Henderson, Nev., Claremont, Calif., and McKinney, Texas.

SANTA MONICA

On the West Coast, Santa Monica wants to be the nation’s first “Net Zero” city. Through energy efficiency, solar and other renewable energy, the city envisions generating clean Santa Monica wants to be the nation’s first “Net Zero” city. Through energy efficiency, solar and other renewable energy, the city envisions generating clean energy that matches its total energy consumption.

Energy and Green Building Program Administrator Susan Munves estimated that over 20 years, $1.4 billion is the probable investment required to achieve being a “Net Zero” city. This is likely to offset utility electric charges which would be higher than the $1.4 billion. The city will only invest a small part of that investment. The city’s primary role is facilitating and project management. The city offers a number of “carrots and sticks” to encourage broad participation.

Santa Monica’s 20 year plan would eliminate electricity produced by coal and natural gas power plants, and all the resulting greenhouse gas emissions.

Santa Monica goes beyond clean electricity to be a city that models clean transportation. Over 80% of the city’s 519 vehicles are either alt-fuel or electric. 100 of Santa Monica’s Big Bus fleet is LNG, which they state is 77% cleaner than diesel. Liquid NG provides a 300 mile range. 88 buses run on B20 biodiesel. Only about 20 older buses run on standard diesel.

OTHER CITIES

Culver City, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Long Beach, and Redondo Beach municipalities one and all – please enlighten the world to what your city is doing to help the environment.

California green building mandate is now official

The California Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN) has been officially adopted making it the first green building mandate in the nation.

Mon, Jan 18 2010 at 3:00 PM EST

Read more: GREEN BUILDING, LEED

Leave it to California to be the first state in the nation to mandate a green building standard. The California Building Standards Commission has officially adopted the Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN), which will be operational as of January 1, 2011. CALGREEN will require that all new buildings in the state take measures to increase their energy efficiency and minimize their impact on the environment.

Once a building passes the inspection process, the property can then be marketed as CALGREEN compliant. It was interesting to read through some of the documentation on the CALGREEN Code, including one form that compares the California Green Building Standards Code (PDF) to “point-based systems”, like the LEED rating systems. Naturally the main benefit of CALGREEN is that it doesn’t cost a property owner any extra money to receive the CALGREEN compliant designation. This code is mandated and so building owners have to follow it.