Green Communities and Building Design

Overview

Green building practices provide an opportunity to create environmentally-sound and resource-efficient buildings through an integrated approach to design. Green communities extend the green concepts to a neighborhood or community-wide scale. Northwest communities, including King County, Seattle, and Portland, have emerged as leaders in the green communities and green building movement. A green building is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet objectives such as protecting occupant health; reducing operation and maintenance costs; using energy, water, and other resources efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Members of the U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED system. This system gives points for environmentally beneficial building attributes, with ratings from certified, silver, and gold to platinum for the highest ranked buildings. For example, in Seattle, any public building project of 5,000 or more square feet of occupied space must achieve a LEED silver rating.

The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national standard for neighborhood design. LEED for Neighborhood Development is a collaboration between the U.S. Green Building Council, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

General Information on Green Building Design and Green Communities

The following are general links to information on green building design and green communities and organizations supporting green design.

• U.S. Green Building Council - Coalition of building industry leaders working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places. U.S. Building Council's LEED main site.
  • Tool Kit, State and Local Government, revised 01/2009 - Guidebook for developing a green building program
  • A Local Government Guide to LEED for Neighborhood Development  04/2012 - Focuses on the ways the LEED-ND rating system can be best used by local governments to achieve sustainability goals
• Cascadia Green Building Council - Northwest chapter of the Green Building Council; covers Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
• Built Green Washington - Umbrella site for all Built Green programs in Washington State. Built Green programs encourage environmentally responsible residential construction by certifying homes that meet specific criteria.
• APA Green Communities Research Center - Guidance on planning for sustainable communities
• NACo Green Government Initiative - Comprehensive resource for local governments on green topics, including energy, air quality, transportation, water quality, land use, purchasing, and recycling
• U.S. EPA
  • Green Building - Information on a variety of green building topics
  • Green Communities - Includes 5-step environmental planning framework
  • Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments ( 17 MB) 10/2010 - Developed to assist communities in identifying and removing barriers to sustainable design within their permitting process and to assist them in implementing regulatory and permitting changes to allow for more sustainable design
• Preservation Green Lab, National Trust for Historic Preservation - Emphasis on preserving older and historic buildings sustainably; located in Seattle
• Sustainable Connections, Green Building Resources - Nonprofit organization based in Bellingham

Green Communities and Building Programs in Washington State

This section includes links to selected governmental green building programs, policies, and documents.

State Green Building Resources

• Ch. 39.35D RCW - High-Performance Public Buildings - Requires LEED silver certification for major facility projects funded in the state capital budget
• Washington State Department of Ecology, Green Building - Technical and educational assistance to state and local governments and others in Washington State
• Washington State Department of Commerce
  • Evergreen Sustainable Building Standard - Green building performance standard required of all affordable housing projects receiving capital funds from the Washington State Housing Trust Fund

Local Government Green Building Programs

Seattle and King County have developed comprehensive green building programs.

• Seattle Green Building, Office of Sustainability and Environment - Central site for the city's green building policies and program. See Seattle Green Building Permit Incentives - Includes Priority Green program for expediting green construction projects 
• King County Green Building - Includes links to ordinance, standards, technical information, and more
• King County Green Building & Low Impact Development, Customer Information Bulletin 55, 09/2009

Selected Green Building Programs of Other Washington Jurisdictions

• Anacortes Resolution No. 1752 (2008) - Promotes the use of LEED standards in the construction of city buildings and private sector building practices
• Bellingham Green Building
• Edmonds Resolution No. 1168 (2008) - Sustainable building policy
• Everett Municipal Code Ch. 16.13 – Sustainable Building and Infrastructure Policy
• Issaquah Green Building – Includes first zero net-energy townhome project in the U.S
• Kirkland Kirkland Green - City initiatives to promote green communities including Green Building - Includes priority permit review for new green single-family housing
• Redmond Green Building Program - Voluntary program offers priority review for residential applicants that build green
• Shoreline Green Building Resources
• Thurston County Green Building and Development - Includes analysis of code barriers to green development
• Whatcom County Green Building

Examples of Local Government Green Purchasing Programs

Many local governments are promoting green purchasing that is environmentally sustainable. Although this does not relate to green buildings and communities per se, it is part of the overall green programs established by local governments.

• U.S. Communities Going Green Program - One-stop source for public agency access to green purchasing products, services, and resources
• Bellingham Resolution No. 2007-05 - Environmentally preferable purchasing program, passed 04/02/2007
• Clark County Environmentally Responsible Purchasing - Includes policy and purchasing list
• King County Environmental Purchasing Program - Includes copy paper reduction and electronics recycling
• Seattle Green Purchasing Program

Incentives and Grants for Green Buildings

Some communities with green building programs provide financial incentives for LEED™-certified buildings and green building projects. There are a few special grant programs available for green buildings and sustainable projects. Other types of incentives, such as density bonuses and expedited permit processing, are also common.

• Enterprise Green Community Partner, Financing and Development - Grants, loans, and technical assistance to projects that meet Green Communities criteria for affordable housing
• Bellingham Green Building Incentives, 2011-- Residential and commercial
• Mercer Island Building Green Incentives & Rebates
• Seattle Green Building Permit Incentives

Land Use Incentives and Density Bonuses

Redmond has the most developed green building incentive program. Other jurisdictions provide bonuses for LEED-certified buildings as part of general flexible development incentives or for certified buildings in specific zones, often in planned developments.

• Auburn Municipal Code Ch. 18.49 - Flexible Development Alternatives - LEED certification is a bonus feature; see Flexible Development Matrices for Residential and Mixed Use in Sec.18.49.020(C) and §18.49.030(C)
• Bellevue Land Use Code Part 20.30D - Planned Unit Development (see Section 20.30D.160(B) - Built Green certification a conservation design factor)
• Ellensburg Municipal Code Ch. 15.330 - Density Bonus Incentives - Energy efficient construction (LEED) or similar certification is a density bonus element
• Everett Zoning Code Sec. 22.020(E)(1)(i) - LEED silver rating is a bonus design element in the B-3 zone
• Newcastle Municipal Code Sec. 18.36.040(E)(1)(i) - Green Building floor area ratio incentive
• Redmond Zoning Code Ch. 21.67 - Green Building and Green Infrastructure Incentive Program (GBP)

Additional References

This section includes additional articles and information on green building design.

• Best Practices, Green Building, Report #9, Foundation for Community Association Research, 2009 - Includes criteria for function-specific best practices and case study examples
• Building Green: Onus or Bonus, Zoning News, 04/2005 - Chart of jurisdictions listing green building requirements and programs
• Cost of Green: Survey of Market Rate Housing in Seattle, by Davis Langdon, July 2011 - Concludes that while survey respondents generally believe sustainable elements increase the cost of a project, low-cost and high-cost buildings are found in both conventional and green building groups
• The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California's Sustainable Building Task Force (2003) - Older but still of interest
• Green on Buildings: The Effects of Municipal Policy on Green Building Designations in America’s Central Cities , by Eugene Choi, JOSRE, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2010 - Examines the effect of local government policies on commercial office green building design