San Francisco ups the ante; City by the Bay goes green in a big way
In a move that might be labeled the “green building consultants’ full employment act,” the City of San Francisco will require all new buildings and most major renovations to adhere to green standards by 2009.
According to one story, the new ordinance modifies the city’s building code, requiring applicants for residential and commercial building permits, beginning in 2009, to follow a city-approved checklist and rating system,including one from local residential certifier Build It Green or the LEED rating system from the U.S. Green Building Council. My comment: with this ordinance, flawed though it might be in particulars, San Francisco has definitely raised the bar to all California cities and to the more than 500 other cities that have signed onto the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Challenge.
The new ordinance requires new projects to reduce the use of potable water for landscaping by 50 percent. (This is not hard in San Francisco, since temperatures are quite mild - a 65 degree day in mid-summer is not uncommon - and the fog and cloud cover also inhibit loss of soil moisture. The ordinance also speaks to higher standards for stormwater management, construction-material recycling and renewable energy applications.
The standards apply to new residential buildings and new commercial buildings that are 5,000 square feet or larger. The rules apply to projects for new and renovated interior commercial space of 25,000 square feet or more, and to work that significantly changes the structural, electrical and mechanical systems of a commercial building that is 25,000 square feet or larger. My comment: like many other similar ordinances, this may have the perverse effect of holding landlords back from making such upgrades and renovations, if the costs of meeting the ordinance exceed the benefits of the tenant leases.
New large commercial buildings would have to meet the LEED Silver standard beginning in 2009 and the LEED Gold certification beginning in 2012. They have the most stringent standards in the new ordinance.
Look for this law to be strengthened by 2010 at the latest, as the data indicate that the costs for meeting the ordinance are not that high compared with the benefits and the consumer acceptance.
Posted by on 08/05/2008 at 10:58 AM
