The Goleta City Council showed its environmental leadership Tuesday by unanimously approving a Green Building Policy for government facilities.
This action requires all new city-owned buildings of 2,000 square feet or greater to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system silver certification.
“This is a big step for Goleta as it establishes a new policy for city buildings allowing Goleta to lead by example,” Mayor Ed Easton said.
A new City Hall and fire station are the types of potential future buildings that would be constructed to the new standard.
“Reducing the environmental impact of construction, operations and maintenance of publicly funded facilities saves taxpayer dollars because green buildings operate more efficiently, using less energy, water and fossil fuels,” Easton said. “This demonstrates that the city is contributing to larger efforts to create a sustainable community.”
LEED is the most widely recognized and widely used green building program. The USGBC created the LEED rating systems and maintains certification processes for new and existing buildings that together identify and verify a range of responsible design, construction and maintenance practices that can improve human and environmental health in buildings and their surroundings while saving energy, water and money.
— Valerie Kushnerov is a public information officer for the City of Goleta.
Comments
