California’s New Green Building Standards the First in the Nation

The first statewide Green Building Standards in the United States was passed in California last Friday, and aims to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by structures. All 60 pages are available to be viewed by the public here, but some of the highlights are a 20% improvement in water use efficiency in commercial and residential buildings, 50% increase in landscaping water conservation, and construction energy consumption to be reduced by 15%. Schwarzenegger was on a roll on Friday, as he also introduced a Green Building Initiative that aims to force the state to reduce the energy consumption of all state owned buildings by 20% by 2015, and forces new buildings being built to meet LEED Silver certification. This legislation will surely be adopted soon by many other states and should make all Californians proud.