A Tale of Two Cities: Los Angeles' Audits
Continuing our discussion of topics from Greenbuild, we now move to Los Angeles’ green building regulation. We have already highlighted Portland’s innovative Feebate enforcement mechanism. Los Angeles has created a very different enforcement mechanism that, frankly, may cause problems.
Under Los Angeles’ Green Building Program Standard of Sustainability, projects meeting certain size requirements must: (1) include a LEED AP on the project and (2) demonstrate that the project has met the intent of the USGBC’s LEED certified level. Importantly, Los Angeles’ Standard of Sustainability states that “formal certification by the USGBC is not required.”
Los Angeles’ plan to enforce the Standard differs significantly from other regulatory schemes and includes the following steps:
- Developers must submit plans and a preliminary LEED checklist to the Department of Building and Safety (DBS);
- DBS will then refer an applicant that meets the sustainability requirements to the Department of City Planning for clearance; and
- Every seventh project is then audited to ensure compliance with LEED certification.
The Standard never states the punishment if a project fails an audit. Absent a sufficiently punitive fine for failed audits, owners may be willing to gamble that they will not be audited. Furthermore, the Standard does not include any provision to ensure that green building strategies are incorporated into actual construction. Owners can simply eliminate green building strategies after the design phase and avoid punishment.
Which system do you prefer, Portland’s Feebate or Los Angeles’ Audits?
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Great point. I think there needs to be a stated fine. I think too many times we have heard that someone will do their "best" to implement sustainable design, enviro friendly materials, etc. and without necessity or regulation it may not get done.
Not saying everyone is at fault, but there are those willing to take the risk that they will not be audited. I vote for some type of fine, etc.
Is this for new commercial or residential building?
How is this received by builders?
Either way, some kind of enforcement would make sustainability more achievable.
Of course at what cost? This is not an easy job for anyone.
Robert
I think this is a plan destined to fail. As has been seen in Environmental law, when a state or the federal government lacks an enforcement mechanism there is no incentive to meet the requirements. It would be interesting to know if this proposal is a subsection of some larger code which provides for enforcement by an administrative agency which could conduct a case by case review of buildings which fail to meet requirements and assess fines both for the failure to meet requirements as well as for fraudulent representations in the planning stages.
Is there a provision for a citizen suit or other mechanism allowing for individuals or agencies to sue either under the statute or under common law principles for misrepresentations?
Thanks for the great comments and I apologize for my tardy response!
Chris - I was surprised when I discovered that LA had not announced a set fine for the regulation. It will interesting to see how this regulation evolves over the coming years.
Robert - Here is the threshold for the requirements: The Standard of Sustainability establishes a requirement for non-residential projects at or
above 50,000sf of floor area, high-rise residential (above six stories) projects at or above 50,000sf
of floor area, or low-rise residential (six stories or less) of 50 or more dwelling units within buildings
of at least 50,000sf of floor area to meet the intent of the leadership in energy and environmental
design® (leed®) Certified level. The Standard also applies to existing buildings that meet the minimum
thresholds described above when redevelopment construction costs exceed a valuation of 50% of
the existing building’s replacement cost.
Rich - You raise some great points, particularly as to citizen suits. A citizen suit enforcement mechanism could be very effective in enforcing green building regulations.