Los Angeles closes in on mandating LEED buildings

The City of Los Angeles Planning Commission moved one step closer to mandating LEED buildings for the commercial sector by requiring all large buildings to reduce energy use by 15% and offering incentives to large commercial developments pursuing at least LEED Silver certification.

The City’s move will affect all buildings above 50 units residential or 50,000 sq.ft. commercial and will affect about 200 large projects annually. The City Council is expected to approve the measure, which has the mayor’s full support, in earl 2008. The City also expects to expedite permits for developments committing to LEED Silver certification, helping them save two to 12 months in the permit process. That’s real money in the bank for large developments. In Los Angeles, already 48 buildings have been designed to LEED standards.

Posted by on 11/17/2007 at 09:10 AM