In August 2008, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom singed the city’s first green building ordinance into law. The ordinance requires that new and existing residential and commercial buildings meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. However, Newsom recognized that certification under the U. S. Green Building Council’s LEED process can be expensive for building owners and potentially stagnate renovation and new construction. Therefore, the ordinance requires that renovation and new construction meet the LEED standards through the city’s Building department permit process, achieving the energy and water efficiency and other LEED goals, without having to be certified.

Santa Clara County has taken a cue from San Francisco and enacted similar legislation that again, achieves the benefits of green buildings without requirng building owners to pay an expensive certification process.

These LEED-like standards are probably the closest any jurisdiction has come to enforcing a better environmental policy for the built environment while still being sensitive to costs and time. While LEED has legitimized the green building industry, and still provides needed industry knowledge, providing builders with LEED-like options greatly enhances their willingness to build green and do so in a recessed economy. This compromise achieves what the public is looking for: protect the environment and save money, taxpayer’s and otherwise.