In a unanimous vote from the Victoria city council, Windmill Development–VanCity Enterprises has won a bid to redevelop Dockside, an 11.6-acre (2.85 ha) brownfield site in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. The CA$300 million development, expected to take a decade to complete, includes 1 million ft² (93,000 m²) of residential, commercial, office, and light-industrial space. “We committed to LEED^® Platinum on all buildings; treating all sewage on site; a greenhouse-gas-neutral policy, by utilizing biomass energy for heating, cooling, and electricity; a biodiesel facility; a neighborhood-electric-vehicle car-share program; and a mini transit system; plus more,” said Joe Van Belleghem, Windmill Development partner. “We were thrilled by the response from the community and environmental and business groups,” he told

EBN. “I thought I was dreaming. It’s not often a developer receives a standing ovation at council. We are committed to ensuring a development that truly embraces economic, social, and environmental issues and that is a world showcase for sustainable community design.” More information is online at www.docksidegreen.com.

A CD-ROM promoting the recycling of lamps containing mercury is available at no charge from the Lamp Recycling Outreach Project, a cooperative agreement between the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers (ALMR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to Paul Abernathy, executive director of ALMR, the recycling rate for mercury-containing lamps is just 24% “because most people are not aware that many lamps contain toxic levels of mercury or that they have a responsibility to keep this mercury out of the environment.” Details are online at www.lamprecycle.org.

Pennsylvania became the 16th state to pass a renewable portfolio standard in November 2004, requiring that 18% of the state’s energy come from alternative sources by 2020. More notably, this is the first statewide renewable-energy standard to include a fossil fuel component. The bill defines Tier 1 energy sources as solar, wind, low-impact hydro, geothermal, biomass, biological and coal-mine methane, and fuel cells. Tier 2 sources include waste coal, distributed generation systems, demand-side management, large-scale hydro, municipal solid waste, wood byproducts, and integrated combined coal gasification technology. According to the bill, 1.5% of energy must come from Tier 1 sources within two years. The required Tier 1 percentage increases by 0.5% each year to 8% in 2020. Tier 2 sources must make up 4.2% of the state’s energy for the first four years, with percentages increasing to 10% by 2020.

Following the recommendations of the green building task force formed in 2003, Boston mayor Thomas Menino has announced that all new and renovated city-owned buildings must achieve a Silver or higher rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

^® Rating System. Furthermore, the city will amend Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code to require that all projects larger than 20,000 ft

² (1,860 m

²) be LEED-certifiable. “We are using ‘certifiable’ because we felt that the city could not require private developers to work or contract with a sole source,” according to John Dalzell, AIA, senior architect at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The city plans to craft the review process after USGBC’s: “The goal would be to make the process as similar as possible so that City LEED certifiable is not viewed as ‘LEED Lite,’” Dalzell told

EBN, noting that “we will encourage LEED certification.” The task force is now completing a three-year work plan to set the new policies in action.

Following a “tough underwriting reception,” the environmental home-improvement television series

Build It Green! (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 12) is once again on track after the nonprofit GreenBlue (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 6) agreed to sign on as fiscal sponsor. The series, to be broadcast nationally on PBS, will document the construction of a solar-hydrogen-powered home designed to last 2,000 years. “This show has the potential of transforming the way Americans view, build, operate, and live in their homes, making the home a source of ecological prosperity rather than a major contributor to environmental destruction,” stated William McDonough, FAIA, GreenBlue cofounder.

A new website is focusing on the market for buying and selling homes that were built or remodeled to be green or healthy. “Although some real estate professionals may be familiar with the concept of green and healthy homes, many are not knowledgeable about the inherent extra value of a specialty home,” according to Roy Prince of Green and Healthy Homes for Sale. At press time, the site listed more than 65 homes in 23 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Australia. Listings are currently free, but a fee will be charged in the future. The site is online at www.greenhomesforsale.com.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Green Building Initiative in December 2004, mandating that all new and renovated state-owned facilities achieve a LEED

^® Silver or higher rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Initiative, part of executive order S-20-04, was made in recognition that state-owned buildings consume more than $500 million of electricity every year and that “the Energy Action Plan adopted by the state’s energy agencies places conservation and energy efficiency first in the loading order of energy resources because they are the least expensive and most environmentally protective resources.” The Green Building Initiative is part of a larger plan to reduce grid-based energy purchases for state-owned buildings 10% by 2010 and 20% by 2015.

For the first time in U.S. history, a state renewable energy standard initiative was put before voters in a referendum, as opposed to being passed through state legislature. In the November 2004 elections, Colorado voters supported the renewable portfolio standard, Amendment 37, by a narrow margin, requiring Colorado’s largest utility companies to produce 3% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2007 and 10% by 2015. The initiative also establishes a net metering system for homeowners with small photovoltaic systems that are connected to the utility grid.

The City of San Francisco has adopted a Green Building Ordinance, requiring all new city construction projects, renovations, and additions to achieve a LEED^® Silver or higher rating. “This ordinance will translate into millions in savings on future operational costs,” said Jared Blumenfeld, director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. Nine other cities have passed similar laws: “We look forward to more cities following their leadership,” said U.S. Green Building Council president and CEO Rick Fedrizzi.

The Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the University of California, Berkeley has an online occupant survey tool with automated reporting and analysis options (see

EBN Vol. 12, No. 9). In order to increase the number of LEED-certified buildings in its database, CBE is currently waiving the standard $1,000 per building fee for LEED buildings. For details, e-mail cbe-survey@berkeley.edu or view the online demo at www.cbesurvey.org.