U.S. Conference of Mayors Embrace Green Building Agenda

Eugene Gilligan, Contributing Writer

Oklahoma City–The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a statement this week commending the U.S. Conference of Mayors and its membership for embracing a green building policy agenda, including the adoption of five resolutions that USGBC says is critical to its mission of transforming the design, construction and operations of buildings and communities.

The resolutions that passed this week include:

• Financing mechanisms to pay for energy retrofits of existing buildings
• Greening of school districts
• Sustainable development in cities
• Green affordable housing and finance
• Calling on U.S. cities to adopt green building codes and the International Green Construction Code

The resolutions passed unanimously during the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting, held in Oklahoma City.

“Critical to bringing green building to scale is smart public policy that enables investment and market growth,” says Roger Platt, senior vice president of global policy and law for the USGBC, in a prepared statement. “USCM’s set of resolutions calls on mayors nationwide to do just that, placing a special emphasis on ensuring that the benefits of green buildings are enjoyed by the sectors that need it most—like affordable housing and schools.”

Platt also commended the USCM’s support of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). USGBC worked with a consortium of national partners to launch the IGCC in March of this year. The code includes USGBC co-authored Standard 189.1 as an optional path to compliance.

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39 percent of CO2 emissions, 40 percent of energy consumption, 13 percent of water consumption and 15 percent of GDP per year. According to the USGBC, greater building efficiency can meet 85 percent of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million jobs.