government

Wondering what to make of the Cash for Clunkers initiative that’s been sweeping the news ranks and has just been extended by Congress with another $2B to total $3B?

 Green Builder Media’s most recent newsletter thinks that it’s a step in the right direction but should be accompanied by numerous other wholistic initiatives in parallel to drive systemic change, rather than just a one-time band-aid. The program is expected to replace 500K cars by Fall 2009 when the funds are expected to dry up again, and to increase the efficiency of participating drivers by 60% (average 10 MPG for cars traded in).

Of course with many green-intended initiatives there’s a downside, and many environmentalists point to the energy required to deal with the old cars as a major offset to the program’s benefits.

I see GBM’s point. Several months ago Click and Clack (the Car Guys) raised a concept of a wholesale transformation of Detroit and the US auto industry, driven by a government-backed initiative to improve railroads and rail transportation. If the government feels the need to protect US workers and has the drive and vision to protect the environment at the same time, why not cause real long term change? By letting some of these auto manufacturers, who have shown scant innovation in recent decades, go under, and use the labor, capital and equipment to build up our railroads instead?

San Francisco is close to enacting some of the strictest green building codes in the nation. Last week, the city’s Building Inspection Commission voted to pass the revisions to its building code onto the city’s Board of Supervisors. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who established a task force last year to come up with these revisions, has promised to sign the regulations into law.

Unlike many green building standards, which only apply to public buildings or buildings that receive a certain amount of public financing, these will affect private developers and commercial projects. The regulations would be phased in over a number of years and would apply to new residential high-rises over 75 feet, new commercial buildings over 5,000 square feet, and renovations on buildings over 25,000 square feet. Other new residential construction would have to comply with Build It Green’s GreenPoint Rated standard, which is similar to LEED (but more user friendly).

According to city officials, by 2012 the new green building codes could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60,000 tons and save 220,000 megawatt hours of power and 100 million gallons of drinking water. Pretty impressive. This could be a model for other forward thinking cities who have passed green building laws but have not yet greened their building codes.

Finally.   

Proponents of Green Building threw a "woo-hoo" into the air this past week when Governor Charlie Crist signed some interesting Executive Orders.  The governor attended the Summit on Climate Change in Miami and met with officials from the UK, Germany, members of academia and the public (and, of course, Gov. Schwartzenegger) to discuss what Florida can do to control and curb carbon emissions.

I must give Gov. Crist credit for some highly ambitious goals.  Not only does he establish greenhouse gas emission reduction goals up to 40% b 2025, but also directs state and government departments to immediately begin reporting back on current emissions.  Some of these orders have a 30-day deadline.  I can't remember the last time government acted so quickly.

He has also directed that all new buildings (and this is probably my personal favorite) must meet LEED standards, with a goal of LEED Platinum.  According to a contact at the USGBC, this could very well be the most aggressive order yet in the US.  Gov. Crist also directs that all existing state and government buildings follow LEED-EB standards (LEED for Existing Buildings).  This would ensure that all current government real estate meet strict energy useage guidelines, along with indoor environmental quality benchmarks.  He has also directed that no government agency can enter into a new lease if the space does not meed energy-efficient standards.

Again, Wow.  As I said, those of us deeply involved in green building in Florida are really excited. 

If you're interested in reading the finer details of the executive orders, check out my blog (where this is loosely cross-posted) at www.sustainabuild.net

Wish us Floridians luck that we can move this forward!

Ellen