Green Ordinance Wins in Los Angeles

Today Los Angeles became the largest city in America to adopt green building standards for private building development.

It was quite an Earth Day in City Hall’s Council Chambers, a real victory for the environment and those who support green causes in the region. The new ordinance becomes law in November, and will “reduce the city’s planet-warming carbon emissions by more than 80,000 metric tons annually by 2012, the equivalent of taking 15,000 cars off the road,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times’ story on the new green law goes on:

"Tens of millions of square feet in city buildings will be going green. Two-thirds of everything built by 2050 will be affected by this ordinance.The ordinance would affect buildings 50,000 square feet and more, and require that they meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council, a Washington-based nonprofit group.The City Council ordered staff to report back in six months to advise on whether the standards should be stiffened to include buildings of at least 25,000 square feet, and to require more environmental features, as a pending ordinance in San Francisco would do.”

PIPE and its staff were strong supporters of the City’s new ordinance from the start, maintaining strong links with environmental and community groups to make the whole thing come together. Expect more from this coalition in the future.

Gas Company Offers Building Rebates

The Southern California Gas Company now offers up to $1 million in incentives to private businesses that engage in projects to conserve energy. This program is intended to promote energy efficient retrofitting and process improvements. More information is available from the Gas Company at: http://www.socalgas.com/business/efficiency/docs/programoverview.pdf

Michael McGrorty

San Mateo County Greens Up

San Mateo County has approved new requirements for construction of buildings in the unincorporated areas of that California County. Later this year new rules will take effect, mandating that industrial buildings be scored under the LEED system, while homes are rated on Build it Green’s certification plan. The changes will affect all new residential projects and residential remodels of 50 percent or greater, as well as all new commercial and industrial buildings of 3,000 square feet or more.

According to the San Mateo County Times,

“Under the new regulations, a home or industrial construction project will be required to earn a minimum of 50 "green points," or achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating, and pass muster with an outside green building inspector. The county will offer the incentive of a faster turnaround time for a building permit and a quicker visit from a building inspector on projects that earn 75 to 100 green points.”

Michael McGrorty

Los Angeles Goes Green

On February 15th, the Planning and Land Use Committee of the Los Angeles City Council approved a landmark Green building ordinance whose rules require that all major commercial and residential developments cut energy and water use. Buildings of 50,000 square feet in floor space would be covered, and would have to incorporate a schedule of Green practices into their design.

The measure had been supported by a variety of local environmental groups, including the PIPE labor-management trust. PIPE has been a strong supporter of Green efforts on the local level and expects to encourage more cities to enact rules promoting conservation of resources.

The new ordinance will use the LEED standard of the U.S. Green Building Council as a guideline for its provisions.

This new measure makes Los Angeles the largest American city to enact Green building standards for private-sector construction; other local cities with Green standards include Pasadena, Santa Monica, Long Beach and West Hollywood.

Michael McGrorty