Home   |   About   |   The 28 best practices   |   Become a GreenStep City   |   Model Ordinances   |  City log-in   |   Contact/Feedback            Stay Connected
GreenStep City Best Practices Buildings and Lighting

New Green Buildings
no. 3

Construct new buildings to meet or qualify under a green building framework.

  Best Practice Actions    [See action tools, guidance, city reports]

  1. Require by city policy that new city-owned buildings built in the future use a green building framework.
  2. Work with the local school district to ensure that future new schools are built using a green building framework.
  3. Customize a model sustainable building policy and adopt language governing new private development projects that:
    a.  Receive city financial support, and/or
    b.  Require city regulatory approval (conditional use permit, rezoning, PUD).
  4. Provide a financial or other incentive to private parties who build new buildings that utilize a green building framework.
  5. Adopt environmentally preferable covenant guidelines for new common interest communities addressing issues such as stormwater, native vegetation, growing food, clothes lines and renewable energy.
  6. (Expired on 04/25/2012)
benefits  
  • See several reports and case studies highlighting the benefits and costs of building green.
  • Building to MN Green Community standards results in a 17% internal rate of return, with green building costs typically recouped within eight years. A 2009 report of 27 Green Community housing developments nationwide (containing a total of 1,640 homes) estimates the cost of going green at 2% higher than conventional development - an extra $4.52 per square foot, or $4,524 per house - but on average the lifetime energy and water savings from building to Green Community standards amounts to $5.43 per square foot, or $4,851 per house.
  • According to the Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools' Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits, green schools:
    • Cost about 2% more than conventional schools to build: about $3 per square foot more.
    • Provide financial benefits over the lifetime of the school that are 20 times as large as additional costs.
    • Save enough money annually to pay for an additional full-time teacher.
    • Use 30-50% less energy and 30% less water.
    • Use the school building itself as an interactive teaching tool and improve student learning.
  • The impact that site and building development has on total U.S. greenhouse emissions ranges from 44 - 62%, based on estimates by the University of MN Center for Sustainable Building Research:
    • Building operating energy: 30-43%
    • Employee travel: 10-13%
    • Building materials: 3-5%
    • Building waste, water and wastewater treatment, soils/site vegetation: 5%
  • In households, greywater can account for 60% of total wastewater volume and must be paid for by purchasing water and then by paying to dispose of it.
  • The energy employees typically use to travel to and from an average office building during a given time period - its transportation energy intensity - can be a third to twice more than the energy used to run the building during the same time period. Hence attention to the "green" footprint of a new building must consider an optimal location that shortens commutes and allows options to solo commuting by auto. See a building calculator from the University of MN that takes this into account.
  
Optional for all cities
Category B and C cities that choose to implement this best practice must complete at least one action.

Category A cities that choose to implement this best practice must complete at least one public realm action 1 or 2 and at least one private realm action 3 through 5.
summary
New buildings - whether public or private - present an opportunity to shape the face of a city and to "cement in" reduced operating costs and other benefits. Studies in Minnesota and nationwide have shown that green buildings deliver numerous benefits -- to the building owner, the building tenant, to the community, and to society. Benefits include capital cost savings, reduced operating costs, higher resale value, increased occupant health and productivity, and decreased energy, water and materials use. City and private investments in buildings can be maximized by the use of green building frameworks, which include codes, standards, rating systems with certification, and guidelines with verification.
greenstep advisor
Laura Millberg, Green Building Specialist, MN Pollution Control Agency: 651/757-2568, laura.millberg@state.mn.us, http://www.pca.state.mn.us/yhiz6ef
connection to state Policy

  • As a condition of funding to cities, Minnesota Housing requires that new construction projects meet Green Communities Criteria for which technical assistance is available from Minnesota Green Communities.
  • All building projects (new buildings and major renovations) funded with state bond money are required to follow the B3-MSBG and submit documentation both to the state and to the University of Minnesota's Center for Sustainable Building Research. 2008 amendments to B3-MSBG require that all new state-funded buildings be designed to reduce use of fossil fuel energy 60% by 2010, 70% by 2015, 80% by 2020 and 90% by 2025.