In 2006 the town of Babylon, NY adopted a local law that requires LEED certification for “new construction of commercial buildings, office buildings, industrial buildings, multiple residence, or senior citizen multiple residence over 4,000 square feet”. As an incentive, the town will refund certification fees paid by developers if a new project achieves LEED status

Budniews, Donna

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10-27-2010 
Green Municipal Building Ordinances 
Donna Budniews 
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Green Municipal Building Ordinances 
Abstract 
In 2006 the town of Babylon, NY adopted a local law that requires LEED certification for “new construction 
of commercial buildings, office buildings, industrial buildings, multiple residence, or senior citizen multiple 
residence over 4,000 square feet”. As an incentive, the town will refund certification fees paid by 
developers if a new project achieves LEED status. 
Keywords 
Buffalo, Environment, Buildings and Housing, Policy Brief, PPG, PDF 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/buffalocommons/134 
Green Municipal Building Ordinanc
 
 
Green Municipal Buildings?
In 2006 the town of Babylon, NY adopted a local law 
that requires LEED certification for “new construction 
of commercial buildings, office buildings, industrial 
buildings, multiple residence, or senior citizen multiple 
residence over 4,000 square feet
town will refund certification fees paid by developers if 
a new project achieves LEED status. 
 
 This month, Bridgewater, New Jersey, unveiled its new 
$23.9 million 
bond ordinance in 2007 that 
taxes homeowners. It is one of the first LEED certified 
municipal buildings in New Jersey. Green features 
include “automatic shades that go up and down 
depending on the position of the sun 
to gather and retain heat” a
to water the property's landscaping.
FACT SHEET    
 
 
 
 
es
Donna Budniewski 
University at Buffalo Law Student 
 Where are They? 
.”
1
 As an incentive, the 
 
green municipal complex, funded by a 
added $44 in property 
- allowing rooms 
nd a system that collects rain 
2
 
      
 
October 27, 2010 
Covered in long-lasting copper and using photo voltaic 
cells, City Hall in Austin, Texas is LEED-Gold 
certified. The city is home to ten LEED-certified 
municipal buildings, with about 14 more LEED 
municipal building projects underway (planning phase 
or under construction. See the city’s website for more 
information: 
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/sustainability/ne
w_bldgs_renovations.htm).  
 
Maplewood, New Jersey, is home to the state’s first 
green municipal building. In 2008, a police and court 
building was completed and certified LEED-Silver. 
The building uses solar panels; live data showing how 
much energy they produce is found here: 
http://view2.fatspaniel.net/SolarEnergySystems/maplew
oodpolice/HostedAdminView.html? &eid=76359  The 
city undertook an energy audit of its municipal 
buildings and is “now implementing recommended 
retro-fits, including new windows, insulation, 
thermostatic controls, new lighting, etc.”3  
Queens (NY) Botanical 
Gardens Visitor and 
Administration Center is, 
according to its website, “the 
most advanced green 
building in New York City.”4 
Opened in 2007, the building 
boasts LEED-Platinum 
certification—the highest 
rating possible. The building 
uses 82 percent less water 
than buildings similar in size, 
uses geothermal heating and 
solar panels, a planted green 
roof, water recycling systems, 
and two composting toilets. 
Its solar panels contribute 17 
percent of the energy used at 
the center. The Borough of 
Queens financed construction 
costs of around $12 million.5 
Who Is Mandating Green Building Ordinances? And 
What Can Buffalo Learn from Their Efforts?  
Cities all over the U.S., from New York City to Seattle to 
Washington, D.C., have jumped on the green ordinance band-
wagon for municipal buildings. About 41 cities in California 
have their own green building ordinances.6 (In addition, this 
year California mandated an all-encompassing plan requiring 
that all new construction in the state adhere to its new Green 
Building Standards Code).7  
A study by the Rockingham, New Hampshire Planning Council 
found that most of the cities it surveyed with green building 
ordinances chose LEED-silver as the standard for municipal 
buildings.  
The U.S. Green Building Council summarizes in a 2009 report 
(http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2021) 
city and state efforts to implement LEED-centered building 
ordinances—most of which offer financial incentives for 
developers to meet the highest LEED-standard possible. For 
example, in Chatham Co. Georgia, full tax abatement is 
possible for commercial projects meeting LEED-Gold standard 
during the first five years upon completion. The USGBC report 
will be a vital tool for structuring Buffalo’s green building 
ordinance to ensure that it has teeth and addresses its potential 
weaknesses in gaining potential developer compliance. The 
report offers numerous green building ordinance models that 
account for many of the same demographic issues Buffalo 
faces.  
 
For example, Cincinnati, Ohio, our more progressive Rustbelt 
neighbor, offers powerful incentives to developers, including a 
100 percent “property tax exemption for developments that 
meet a minimum of LEED Certified for newly constructed or 
rehabilitated commercial or residential buildings. For buildings 
that meet LEED Certified, 
Silver and Gold, the 
maximum amount of 
abatement per dwelling unit 
is $500,000 over 15 years 
for new construction or over 
10 years for renovation/ 
remodel. There is no 
maximum for LEED 
Platinum.”  
In Arlington, Virginia, not 
only are commercial 
projects achieving LEED 
certification allowed to build at a higher density, but all 
developments are required to contribute to a fund for “county-
wide education and outreach activities”; monies that are 
refunded if the project is LEED-certified.   
 
Seattle, Washington, invested over $4 million during 2001-
2005 in LEED building projects.8 Because it required all new 
city buildings over 5,000 feet to meet LEED-requirements, “it 
now has one of the highest concentrations of sustainable 
buildings in the country and a powerful sustainable building 
industry worth $671 million.9” Investment in its green 
infrastructure is ongoing, handled through a city-business unit 
called City Green Building. Two of its municipal buildings—
the Seattle Library and Seattle Justice Center—are models of 
energy efficiency best practices. The library alone saves 4.5 
million kWh/yr in electricity and prevents 181 tons of CO2 from 
entering the atmosphere.10 Seattle’s efforts to green its 
buildings created an economic engine, bringing jobs and 
economic sustainability to the city as well.11 In a city like 
Buffalo, where jobs and demographic sustainability are lacing, 
cities like Seattle should serve as a primer and as inspiration 
for taking bold steps to green the city’s municipal core.  
Most cities use LEED standards as their greening tool; for 
example, in Washington D.C., all new public buildings must 
be built to comply with LEED Standards.  Some criticism of 
LEED standards has emerged over the years, however -- 
namely that LEED doesn’t measure energy output of buildings 
before awarding certification.12 “LEED certification has never 
depended on actual energy use, and it's not going to….You can 
use as much energy as you want and report it and keep your 
plaque,” says Henry Gifford, landlord with expertise on energy 
efficiency.13 LEED is strengthening its requirements, and most 
builders and architects agree that its standards encourage green 
design now as a 
basic part of 
planning for most 
municipal 
construction 
projects.14  
However, a city 
might want to 
consider finding a 
way to make sure 
that a project is 
energy efficient --- either by requiring that it obtain a certain 
number of  LEED points for energy efficiency, or that it meet 
the federal government’s Energy Star standard. 
New York City has implemented Local Law 86, which 
mandates that all new municipal construction meet LEED 
version 3 (2009) standards. Building projects exceeding $12 
million must achieve energy use reductions totaling 20-30 
percent below the state’s energy code. The law features a water 
reduction use mandate, and requires LEED-Silver certification 
for city-funded buildings, with the exception of health and 
education facilities.15 “Green cities are quite 
economical….There’s an initial payout, but commercial 
owners can turn it to their advantage with little outlay, like a 
power purchase agreement, where you agree to buy power 
from a company for 20 years if they’ll install solar panels for 
you. You can sell excess power from renewable sources, sell it 
back into the grid—but can we adopt carbon cap-and-trade on a 
national basis? There’s only so much that a specific city can do 
without regional and national support” says Renee Baston, 
chief business officer at the New York Academy of Sciences.16 
In the spring of 2010, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced 
an overhaul of the city’s zoning code with implementation of 
the “Buffalo Green Code” set for 2012. A green building 
ordinance would complement that process.  And since the 
2010-2011 Buffalo Common Council action plan identifies 
“architectural plundering” as a primary concern, developing 
green building ordinances that address retrofitting older 
buildings to LEED-standards should also be part of the overall 
plan to green Buffalo’s downtown buildings. However, as the 
Environmental Protection Agency notes: “Current codes and 
many green building standards, however, do not always 
provide a clear path forward on how best to redevelop and 
revitalize historic and other existing buildings to achieve 
sustainable outcomes. For example, replacement of windows 
and doors—key elements for an energy-efficient building 
envelope—often pose a challenge to those interested in 
preserving the historic integrity of older buildings. 
Communities that seek to both increase their sustainable 
investments and protect their historic assets must resolve 
standards and policies that can at times conflict, and which 
may render some projects financially infeasible.” 
 
Buffalo should one day be able to create with pride, as Detroit 
did, a Green Building Guide detailing all of its “Eco-
Buildings” along with green building resources, vendors, 
partners, projects, and sustainability education efforts.17How 
should Buffalo envision itself today—with its architectural 
history intact?  “One way is to look to parts of the city where 
you can build on the city's existing urban bones. I'm a believer 
in traditional urban structure … the spine and musculature of a 
city. These are tenants of New Urbanism and are highlighted in 
three key areas to focus Detroit's future development energy: 
the neighborhood, the district and the corridor. Detroit needs to 
identify the best examples of each and make sure they work at 
a high level” says Doug Farr, a Detroit Native and urban 
architect and urban designer.18  
 
 While a comprehensive green city approach might be best and 
affordable for many cities, perhaps Buffalo could adopt a 
block-by-block or sector-by-sector approach to the construction 
of green municipal buildings. At the very least it should ensure 
its next building project is a model of what the city itself 
should be: a green architectural jewel set in and surrounded by 
its maritime 
anchors: Lake Erie 
and the Niagara 
River. Buffalo 
should restore and 
broaden its vistas 
westward when 
considering green 
building design yet pay homage to its agrarian, industrial, and 
cultural heritage. If other “Rustbelt” cities are doing it, why 
aren’t we?   
                                                           
1 Summary of Government LEED Incentives, U.S. Green Building Council, 
March 2009. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010, at 
http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2021. 
2 Kara L. Richardson, “Bridgewater to Host Open House of New Green 
Municipal Complex,” The Daily Journal,  Oct. 10, 2010. Accessed Oct. 13, 
2010 at 
http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/CN/20101010/NEWS/101010020/0/
POLITICS/Bridgewater-to-host-open-house-of-new--green-municipal-
complex 
http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/CN/20101010/NEWS/101010020/0/
POLITICS/Bridgewater-to-host-open-house-of-new--green-municipal-
complex. 
3 “Maplewood is Green,” Maplewood, New Jersey’s Environmental Action 
Site. Accessed Oct. 12, 2010. 
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/10/07/leed-and-future-green-
                                                                                                                                                                      
building?page=full. 
4 Queens Botanical Garden website: 
http://www.queensbotanical.org/sustainable. 
5 Sewall Chan, “City’s Greenest Building Opens in Queens,” New York 
Times, Sept. 27, 2007. Accessed Oct. 12, 2010. 
6 Daniel B. Wood, “California Adopts First Statewide Green Building 
Code,” Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 15, 2010. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010, 
at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0115/California-adopts-first-
statewide-green-building-code. 
7 California Green Building Standards Code, California Code of 
Regulations, Title 24, Part 11, 2008. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010, at  
http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/2009/part11_2008_calgreen_code.pd
f. 
8 C40 Large Cities Case Study, New York City 2007. Accessed Oct. 14, 
2010, at 
http://www.c40cities.org/docs/casestudies/buildings/seattle_green.pdf 
9 Id.  
10 Id.  
11 Id.  
12 Franklyn Cater, “Critics Say LEED Program Doesn’t Fulfill Promises,” 
National Public Radio, Sept. 8, 2010. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010, at 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129727547.  
13 Id.  
14 Id. 
15 New York City Green Building Code, accessed Oct. 14, 2010, at 
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oec/html/green/ll86_basics.shtml 
16 Joseph Dobrian, “How Green is Our City,” NYInc at 
http://www.nyinc.com/pages/full_story/push?article-
How+Green+Is+Our+City-%20&id=8948406&instance=lead_story. 
Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.  
17 Detroit GreenMap, Green Building Resource List, prepared by Detroit’s 
GreenMap Team, November 2004. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010, at 
http://www.detroitgreenmap.org/map/resource.pdf. 
18Francis Grunow, “Doug Farr, Sustainable Urbanism Superstar,” Model 
Media Website. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.  
____________________________________________________________ 
 
Partnership for the Public Good    
www.ppgbuffalo.org    
237 Main St., Suite 1200, Buffalo NY 14203 
____________________________________________________________   
 
  


Green Municipal Building Ordinances

In 2006 the town of Babylon, NY adopted a local law that requires LEED certification for “new construction of commercial buildings, office buildings, industrial buildings, multiple residence, or senior citizen multiple residence over 4,000 square feet”. As an incentive, the town will refund certification fees paid by developers if a new project achieves LEED status.Environment__Green_Municipal_Building_Ordinances.pdf: 21 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

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