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Construction & Demolition Recycling Magazine » News »
San Francisco Mayor Signs Green Building Legislation
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has signed the city’s green building ordinance that imposes strict green building requirements on newly constructed residential and commercial buildings, as well as renovations to existing structures.
The ordinance requires newly constructed commercial buildings of more than 5,000 square feet, residential buildings more than 75 feet high and renovations on buildings of more than 25,000 square feet to be subject to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications.
The city’s Climate Action Plan found that energy use in buildings accounted for approximately 50 percent of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions, making green building a critical component in the city’s efforts to address climate change.
Some of the significant cumulative benefits this ordinance is expected to achieve through 2012 are: reducing CO2 emissions by 60,000 tons, saving 220,000 megawatt hours of power, saving 100 million gallons of drinking water, reducing waste and storm water by 90 million gallons of water, reducing construction and demolition debris by 700 million pounds, increasing the valuations of recycled materials by $200 million, reducing automobile trips by 540,000, and increasing green power generation by 37,000 megawatt hours.
More information is available at www.sfgov.org.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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