The Future of Green Building Mandates
On Monday, we discussed the possibility of a federal green building mandate being voted on this week on Capitol Hill and what that green building mandate might look like. Yesterday, GBLU received a great tip regarding previous federal green building legislation that passed in the House of Representatives but not in the Senate. In 2007, H.R. 3221 was passed in the House of Representatives and included green building mandates covering residential, commercial and federal building efficiency.
This federal legislation would have set energy efficiency standards for buildings throughout the country. Notably, H.R. 3221 incorporated ASHRAE 90.1-2004 as the energy efficiency benchmark. As we discussed on Monday, ASHRAE 90.1-2004 is the benchmark standard incorporated in the USGBC’s LEED rating system, though this legislation did not refer to the LEED standards explicitly. Furthermore, H.R. 3221 included a rulemaking process that allows for regional adjustments to the green building mandates. As a commenter pointed out on Monday, regional adjustments to federal green building mandates would be necessary to account for the differing climate zones found in the United States.
Legislation could be could be offered up today or tomorrow by House Democrats that is likely to include green building mandates similar to those included in H.R. 3221. GBLU will provide further analysis of this federal legislation that will affect owners, contractors, designers, sureties and insurers across the country.
I have a question about some research that I am doing for work.
I need to find some DC-based architect, commercial building development companies, etc.. Anyone who would be affected by the requirement described in the article below.
"Washington, D.C., was among the early cities to require privately owned buildings to meet LEED standards. Now, it is requiring the city government as well as private building owners to benchmark their buildings using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool and to submit performance data to the City, which will then publish it for the public.'
City buildings must be benchmarked annually starting in 2009. Annual benchmarking for private buildings will be phased in over four years, starting in 2010 (for buildings over 200,000 ft ²) and ending in 2013 (for buildings over 50,000 ft ²)."
If anyone can help me by sending me any contacts or websites it would mean a lot to me.
Thank you so much!
Anna