Environmental Groups Move to Block California Green Building Standard

Just days before coming to vote, environmental groups like the Sierra Club are moving to stop new legislation in California that would make energy efficiency and water conservation part of the standard building code. Critics say that this code falls short of standards set by some municipalities, and threatens to dissolve a major portion of the green building industry, specifically green certification schemes like the US Green Building Council's LEED program. Like LEED, the proposed changes to the California building code would have a "bare minimum" requirement that is focused on getting participation from all new building projects, and a more stringent but voluntary standard for buildings that want to be marketed as especially environmentally focused.

In a joint letter from the Sierra Club, the National Resources Defense Council, Global Green, the U.S. Green Building Council, and Build It Green, California lawmakers are urged to vote against incorporating green building standards into the regular building code, calling it "a setback for California's leadership on green building. According to the letter, the program is inferior to existing standards and will lead to "confusion in the marketplace and the potential for builders to label their buildings as green without substantiating their claims."

Lawmakers say that action from these groups is in an effort to protect a lucrative market that removes much of the incentive to build green by charging steeply for green certification. "The cost for owners to go through this rating system (LEED) is astronomical — in a very challenging commercial real estate market," said Sandra Boyle, an executive vice president of Glenborough, a San Mateo developer.

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, admitted that the new law might be very detrimental to the USGBC and the builders and certification agents that pay for membership and training, but it would require landfill diversion and a sizable boost in water conservation for all new construction, which "is a heck of a lot better than anything we have now."