Legislative

Legislative Overview

Legislation impacting Green Building is evolving quickly in the United States. Legislation directly impacts public sector facilities through mandates and guidelines for the use of green building principles or specific LEED certification directives, and influences private sector adoption through state and local tax incentives. While there is no standardized legislative framework for green buildings even within the Federal government, the overall objectives of mandates and incentives remains the same - to drive the usage and adoption of green building principles and certification in our nations built environment.

The following is a summary of Green Building legislation at a Federal and State level in the United States today. There are a number of cities and municipalities that have enacted Green Building legislation - the USGBC maintains an updated list of legislation;

Federal Government		The Energy Policy Act of 2005 does not mandate LEED certification in Federal agencies, but calls for the application of sustainable design principals for new construction and major renovation Most major Federal agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. The memorandum makes significant commitments to federal leadership in the design, construction, and operation of High-Performance and Sustainable Buildings
Initiatives by Federal Agencies		Individual agencies have adopted their own green building initiatives. These vary from guidelines for the adoption of green building principles in new construction and major renovation, to requirements that all construction meet specific LEED certification levels; Department of Agriculture Department of Energy Department of the Interior Department of State Environmental Protection Agency General Services Administration U.S. Air Force U.S. Army U.S. Navy
State Governments with Green Building Legislation for Public Facilities		Legislation at a state level varies and is continually evolving. Some legislation has been enacted, others are pending; Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Illinois Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan New Jersey New Mexico New York Nevada Pennsylvania Rhode Island Washington Wisconsin
State Governments with Tax Incentives for Commercial Green Building Development		Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Montana Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Rhode Island South Dakota Texas Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia Wisconsin

Additional Tools & Resources
Organizations and Information Resources
Complete LEED Rating Systems