Governments Are Urged to Build Greener

Council Wants Laws That Would Require Environmentally Friendly Development

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments called for a new wave of "green building" across the region yesterday, recommending that local governments build structures according to environmentally friendly standards and that they push private developers to do the same.

The council's recommendations, approved during a board meeting yesterday, are not binding for the 21 local governments on the council. But council officials said they hope that laws will change soon and that the Washington area's next wave of development will feature structures designed to reduce pollution and save energy and water.

"We can build buildings, and hopefully maintain them, in a way that sits more lightly on the land," said Joan Kelsch, an environmental planner for Arlington County who helped compile a Council of Governments report on green building.

In particular, council officials said they hope local governments will require that all new government buildings obtain a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED rating, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, signifies that a building has a certain number of approved green measures.

In addition, council staff member Stuart Freudberg said, the council wants governments to require or encourage private developers to include a lower level of LEED-approved features in their new buildings.

Twelve Washington area jurisdictions have developed policies for green buildings or are doing so, the council said. The District passed a law requiring that private projects of more than 50,000 square feet be built to green specifications by 2012. Montgomery County will require private buildings of more than 10,000 square feet to meet new standards by next year.

The features of a green building might include solar panels, a roof covered in vegetation to absorb and filter rainwater and windows that allow natural light into the interior. Proponents say such measures help prevent water pollution, a major problem for the Chesapeake Bay, and require less electricity from power plants, which contribute to air pollution and climate change.

An increase in green building would help offset rapid population growth in the Virginia suburbs, said Trip Pollard, of the Southern Environmental Law Center. The nonprofit group is releasing a report today saying that the state's sprawling development has helped drive up emissions of carbon dioxide by 34 percent between 1990 and 2004.

Pollard said measures to offset the increase in greenhouse gases should include more public transit, less highway construction and a focus on energy-saving buildings.

"It's very important to link green building with smart growth patterns," Pollard said. If the region pursues green buildings alone, he said, "that will only be a very small contribution" to the solution.