“San Francisco moved a step closer Wednesday to imposing the country’s most stringent green building codes, regulations that would require new large commercial buildings and residential high-rises to contain such environmentally friendly features as solar power, nontoxic paints and plumbing fixtures that decrease water usage.”
“New residential high-rises taller than 75 feet, new commercial buildings larger than 5,000 square feet and renovations on buildings larger than 25,000 square feet would have to comply with the environmentally friendly building standards known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.”
“All new residential construction would have to comply with another nationally accepted standard, known as GreenPoint Rated, which requires home builders to use such features as paint made from recycled materials and solar-powered water-heating systems.”
∙ S.F. moves to greenest building codes in U.S. [SFGate]
∙ JustQuotes: Standards Are One Thing, Actual Certification Another [SocketSite]
sounds like home values just went up
San Francisco. Protecting the landed gentry since the hippies moved in.
jamie, that was my exact thought when I read the article. leave it to S.F. to find ways to make it more expensive to build here.
wow. yet another obstacle to development.
Maybe if the kitchen granite in One Rincon were “green” instead of “vomit-colored” the building would be a bit more attractive . . .
building “green” is going to become standard practice for most cities around the country…its just a matter of time. I think its smart for the city to require this as soon as possible.
We live in SF, one of the most liberal cities in the country. I would expect SF to adopt the “greenest” building requirements in the country. I am actually surprised it has taken this long……
I just wish they’d ban smoking in multi use dwellings. I’m tired of having someone else’s nasty cig smoke drift up into my windows, or onto my balcony when I’m trying to relax.
At the pace other cities are moving these standards will be out of date in only a few years. Anyone who claims this is going to be a major obstacle to development hasn’t done the math on green development. Not only have the costs been falling sharply, but the resulting efficiency and durability typically pays for itself in only a few years of occupation and use.
Agreed, Mole Man. I would think the values for the outdated homes without these features just went DOWN.
Many “green” techniques pay for themselves relatively quickly, however builders want to cut as many costs as they can so it’s good to legislate this. As a basic example, some dollars can be saved in construction by not using insulation but whoever ends up buying the place will spend far more in energy than was saved by the builder.