|
Community Toolkit > Land Use > Green Building > LEED Ordinance (Stamford)
LEED Building Ordinance
Community Profile:
Dubbed “The City That Works,” Stamford is located in southwestern Connecticut and is the state’s fourth largest city with a population of 126,745. Due to a wide variety of factors, not the least of which being its close proximity to New York City and sustained economic development efforts, Stamford has seen a considerable amount of growth as of late. Stamford joined ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection in 2003.
Stamford’s governance structure includes a mayor and a board of representatives, with two representatives from each of the city’s twenty districts.
Project Overview:
Seeing an opportunity to drastically cut the city’s emissions, Janet Corey, a concerned citizen, initially contacted the president of Stamford’s Board of Representatives, as well as the Director of Planning and Zoning, Robin Stein, with the idea of an ordinance mandating that all future municipal buildings comply with the US Green Building Council’s LEED standards.
Seeing merit to the idea, Stein discussed the idea with others, and finding support, the effort came to involve the City Land Use Bureau, the City Engineering Bureau, the Building Department and the Board of Representatives Land Use Committee Chair.
Project Steps:
- The ordinance itself was drafted by Land Use Bureau employees, with help from town planner Robin Stein, and a handful of citizens, most of whom were from the local Unitarian Universalist Society.
- The ordinance, which is currently before Stamford’s Land Use Committee, mandates that all new municipal buildings and renovations to existing buildings be carried out in accordance with LEED Silver standards, at a minimum.
- The Land Use Committee held a public hearing at which Land Use Bureau staff answered questions regarding the proposed ordinance. Future meetings are planned, and once the committee is satisfied with the information, they will vote on whether or not to send the ordinance to the full board for approval.
Cost and Savings:
Analyzing the Cost of Obtaining LEED Certification is a brief report prepared by Northbridge Environmental Management Consultants of Westford, MA.
The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force
Contacts:
Robin Stein
Director of Planning and Zoning
Phone: (203) 977-4075
Fax: (203) 977-5703
Email: RStein@ci.stamford.ct.us
Janet Corey
Phone: (203) 969-7578
Email: janetcory@optonline.net
Downloads to Use as Templates:
Stamford LEED ordinance
US Green Building Council’s State and Local Government Toolkit
Information, Links and Resources:
US Green Building Council’s State and Local Government Toolkit
Katz, Greg. The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings, A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force. October 2003. 134 pages.
U.S. Green Building Council
Other Communities:
Massachusetts
Maine:
- In 2003, Governor John Baldacci signed this executive order mandating the incorporation of LEED standards into state building standards.
New York:
- New York City’s Local Law 86 of 2005 sets green building standards
|
