On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law strict new green building codes for new construction and renovations of existing buildings.
The new codes apply to residential projects of all sizes, new commercial buildings over a certain size, and renovations of large commercial spaces. They set higher standards for water and energy conservation, recycling and carbon emissions reductions.
The codes will all be phased in by 2012, with construction projects evaluated on a point system that gives credits for site location, water and energy efficiency and sustainable building materials.
Large residential and commercial buildings will be evaluated under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, while medium and small residential construction will use the GreenPoint rating system
"I would say this ordinance puts San Francisco in a leadership position in the country on green building," Dan Geiger, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Northern California chapter, said.
City officials estimate that by 2012 the new requirements will reduce carbon dioxide emissions annually by 60,000 tons and save 220,000 megawatt hours of electricity and 100 million gallons of drinking water.
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