Building

Buildings Overall

This section covers building construction generally. Specific building materials are covered in additional sections. 

Proposed procurement goals: 
  • City shall achieve net-zero emissions across its portfolio of buildings, campuses, and installations by 2045 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from buildings, campuses, and installations by 2032 from 2008 levels, prioritizing improvement of energy efficiency and the elimination of onsite fossil fuel use. US Federal Government 2021 Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability
  • Design new construction and modernization projects greater than 25,000 gross square feet to be net-zero emissions by 2030. 2021 Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability
  • Incorporate green building practices in 100% of municipal siting, design, construction, remodeling, repair, maintenance, operation, and deconstruction of all municipal facilities 
  • For all new municipal buildings over 5,000 square feet and all municipal affordable housing units, meet LEED Silver for New Construction and Major Renovation requirements or equivalent (including Living Building Challenge)
  • For all existing municipality-owned and operated facilities, incorporate applicable LEED or LEED equivalent for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB O+M) best practices into facility operation and maintenance or equivalent (including Living Building Challenge)
  • Adopt a Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) approach for construction and demolition (C&D) materials for all building projects. See best practices here and here.
  • All new construction where parking is offered is EV ready
  • Require disclosure of PFAS in all products considered for purchase: Michigan Executive Directive 2021-8, Reducing State Purchases of Products Containing Intentionally Added PFAS 
  • Evaluate all building materials against the Living Building Challenge Red List and red list chemicals are minimized or eliminated to the extent possible (or equivalent, for instance Perkins + Will Precautionary List)
  • Investigate all building materials for their environmental impacts (for example, using Pharos)
  • Preference given to products with publicly available information to encourage the use of building products that are working to minimize their environmental and health impacts
    • Material ingredients documentation demonstrating the chemical inventory of the product to at least 0.1% (1,000 ppm) with all content characterized and screened
  • All renovation services of commercial and municipal property are in compliance with EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting Act rules for all buildings built prior to 1978 to ensure that all renovation practices are lead safe
  • All new/ existing municipal construction is ENERGY STAR certified 
  • 100% of products purchased meet or exceed the applicable U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (EPA CPG)  
Public policy: 
  • Implement a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program, or a similar program, to support community energy efficiency and renewable projects.
  • Develop a green residential remodeling assistance/financing programs (Green Banks) to assist homeowners in adding space or features such as EV charging and lighting.
  • Track local energy and water use for all local government buildings, using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or another similar tool and upgrade/retrofit local government buildings to increase energy efficiency and conserve water.
  • Incorporate sustainability, energy, and/or climate metrics into capital improvements planning. 
  • Implement EV readiness ordinance to insure all new large construction has EV charging and charging infrastructure installed prior to certificate of occupancy.
  • Property tax credits granted for commercial and multifamily buildings achieving at least a LEED Silver rating. For new construction, a five-year property tax credit up to 75% is offered, and for existing buildings, a three-year tax credit up to 50% is provided.
  • Require net zero energy when revising commercial and residential building standards.  
  • Require the adoption of a Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) approach to construction and demolition (C&D) materials for all building projects. See best practices here and here.
  • Implement an internal revolving loan fund, or similar financing tool, for local government energy projects.
  • Adopt a plan, policy, or program for energy efficiency or renewable energy in all low-income housing.
  • Adopt a sustainable building policy for private buildings. 
  • Adopt language governing new development projects that 1) receive municipal financial support, and/or 2) require municipal regulatory approval.
  • Provide financial or other incentives to private parties who build new buildings that incorporate a green building framework. 
  • Adopt environmentally preferable covenant guidelines for new common interest communities addressing issues such as stormwater, greywater, native vegetation, growing food, clothes lines, electric vehicle charging, and renewable energy.
Case studies and resources: 
  • For HealthCOBE, health co-benefits of the built environment. Developed by Harvard researchers to quantify the health benefits of energy efficiency measures in buildings.
  • State and local governments looking to adopt EPA benchmarking policies focused on reducing energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing commercial and multifamily buildings in their communities could use this data access sample policy language to enable and make benchmarking easier for building owners.
  • Strategies to reduce waste during construction: Zero waste design guidelines 
  • EPA Best Practices for Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Construction and Demolition (C&D) Materials for more information on Design for Adaptability, Disassembly and Reuse.
  • California is working toward the goal of achieving zero net energy in the 2020 Standards for residential buildings and 2030 Standards for nonresidential buildings.  
  • New Mexico: Executive Order 2006-001 mandates new public buildings over 15,000 square feet and/or with a peak electrical demand of over 50 kW be LEED Silver certified. 
  • East Lansing, MI: All new municipal construction over 5,000 square feet must achieve at least LEED Silver.
  • King County, WA: This policy, updated in 2017, requires county projects to seek LEED certification wherever possible: Platinum for new, Gold for retrofit, and all capital projects should be able to achieve certification.
  • Atlanta, GA: Under this policy, in addition to requiring LEED certification for new construction of city-owned facilities, existing buildings of more than 5,000 square feet are required to achieve LEED certification every 10 years.
  • Cincinnati, OH: The Residential Property Tax Abatement Program for residential new construction and renovation has longer abatement terms and/or higher maximum abatements for projects receiving LEED certification. The abatement maximum and term are increased with higher LEED ratings.
  • Howard County, MD: The High Performance Building Credit grants a property tax credit for commercial and multifamily buildings achieving at least a LEED Silver rating (Building Design and Construction or Operations and Maintenance). For new construction, a five-year property tax credit up to 75% is offered, and for existing buildings, a three-year tax credit up to 50% is provided.
  • California: The Green Building Standards Code is the first statewide green building code in the U.S. CALGreen is streamlined with LEED.
  • Cleveland, Ohio’s Sustainable Municipal Building Policy: “The City of Cleveland shall incorporate green building practices into the siting, design, construction, remodeling, repair, maintenance, operation, and deconstruction of all City facilities.” It explicitly refers to LEED-EBOM and encourages City employees to procure ENERGY STAR appliances, WaterSense faucets and toilets, reflective and vegetative roofs and permeable/reflective pavement. RPN
  • Denver, Colorado’s Citywide Sustainability Policy states, “All existing and future City owned and operated facilities will incorporate all applicable LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB O+M) best practices into facility operation and maintenance.” RPN
  • Portland, Oregon’s Green Building Policy for City-Owned Facilities states: “All occupied, City-owned existing buildings will pursue LEED for Existing Buildings Operation and Maintenance (EBOM) certification at the Silver level.” RPN
  • NASPO’s Technical Assistant Grant to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Final Report: Environmentally Preferable Product Specifications for Facilities Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Contract (June 2016)
  • Portland, OR’s Healthy Purchasing Initiative requests “chemical ingredient hazard disclosure of goods and materials purchased by the City including but not limited to: cleaning supplies, office supplies, building products and materials, infrastructure materials.” RPN
  • The EPA promotes a Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) approach that identifies certain C&D materials as commodities that can be used in new building projects, thus avoiding the need to mine and process virgin materials.