Boston Mandates Green Building Standards for Public and Private Projects
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 12.20.06
From the Boston Globe business section:- “Boston is expected to become the first major city in the nation to require private developers to adhere to a strict set of so-called green-building standards, officials said yesterday…The standards will be required before permits are issued for all projects of 50,000 square feet or more”. Inspired by a colonial-era warning, we bring our notice in doggerel verse.
‘In Boston, if you buy land, step two you’ll build Green;And TreeHugger, on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm.’
Reportedly, the standard will be incorporated into Boston's municipal zoning codes. For additional details see the Boston Green Building website . Although this zoning modification would seemingly make Boston the first US city to mandate green building for private projects, we have some abivalence about the actual outcome, given that the Globe article reports that:- “The Boston standards pointedly do not require the buildings be certified under the green building rating system known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design -- commonly called LEED.... Conversely, the Boston Mayor’s official announcement states:- “Boston will become the first major city in the nation to require adherence to the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified standard as part of the private development review process”.
I'm thinking there are others that require private developers to adhere to green requirements. I need to look at the language of each, but Washington DC's ordinance may have beat them to the punch line. Regardless, lots of cities are taking on some sort of LEED ordinance (recently, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati City).