On May 21, the City of Rockville provided an update on the revisions to the Building Code, including the new Green Building Regulations, to the Historic District Commission and Recreation and Parks Committee.

I am delighted that this action is finally taking place, indeed, I sense it will be adopted with few objections because so many of these ideas have been already accepted by the community with our growing awareness that the nation’s resources are limited and our current ways of living are no longer sustainable.  I especially appreciate that the City is following the standards of LEED from the US Green Building Council, while providing a less costly alternative through “Rockville Certified” and “Rockville Silver” ratings.

However, I urge the Mayor and Council to be more visionary and adopt higher standards than proposed, as follows:

1.  Ensure that the City Code is aligned with the latest LEED rating system.  I believe the proposed code is based on LEED 2 (released in 2000), however, the US Green Building Council adopted LEED 3 (aka LEED 2009) in April 2009 and all new projects must be certified under LEED 3 after June 27, 2009.  Builders and property owners should not be required to meet two different standards and it will only result in opposition to green building practices in Rockville.

2.  Require that all new construction, no matter the size, meet the Green Building Code. Continue reading →