San Francisco Promotes Green Buildings, Dioxin Awareness

On July 3, 1999 the City of San Francisco became one of the nation’s first municipalities to have a green building ordinance on the books for City-owned projects. The additions to the San Francisco Municipal Code, known as the Resource Efficient Building Ordinance, consists of two distinct parts. In the first part a few specific requirements are laid out concerning water conservation, energy-efficient lighting, indoor air quality plans, and recycling. The second, more promising, part requires the City to designate a number of pilot green building projects to demonstrate the use of innovative designs and materials. Each of these projects would be evaluated after construction, and their performance reported to the City’s Board of Supervisors.

In another, unrelated development, San Francisco’s Department of the Environment has adopted a dioxin resolution. This resolution—which, unlike an ordinance, is non-binding—calls for the formation of a regional task force to identify sources of dioxin and come up with pollution prevention strategies. The resolution also has several specific recommendations regarding purchases by the City, including the use of chlorine-free paper and alternatives to PVC.