ARCHIVES WEBINARS BLOGS DIRECTORIES RSS FEEDS
GlobeSt.DIRECT members log-in here
Need an Account? REGISTER NOW >
QUICK POLL
The Bailout:
Is Already Improving CRE’s Outlook
Won’t Help the Industry for a While

View Results
powered by
Select Leaders
JOBS
Enter Search Keywords
eg: "Financial Analyst" or Company
Recruit Commentary Sign up for Alert
ADVERTISEMENTS
BUSINESS RESOURCES
1031 EXCHANGES
> Locate-A-Service
REALSHARE CONFERENCES
RealShare
Orange County

December 3, 2008
Hyatt Regency Irvine
RealShare
Northern Virginia

December 11, 2008
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
Full 2008 Conference Schedule >
Last updated: December 20, 2006  04:01pm
City Plans to Adopt Green Building Standards

Boston
BOSTON-Boston could become the first city in the nation to require large developers to adhere to green building standards. A new law could require projects over 50,000 sf to go green with more energy efficient and environmentally friendly materials.

James Hunt, chief of environmental and energy services for the city, tells GlobeSt.com that the city will ask the Boston Redevelopment Authority to incorporate green building standards into the city’s zoning laws on Thursday. The request is an outgrowth of a recommendation made by a task force comprised of city officials and members of the development community that was established by Mayor Thomas Menino in 2003 to study the issue.

“Our goals are to continue to grow Boston but to continue to grow it in a large, sustainable way,” he says.

More Boston News
Spencer Trask Subleases 17,350 SF...
Sudbury Building Trades For Under $2M
Tweeter Prepares for Swan Song, Location...
Notebook: Green Advocates Hopeful
Despite Economy, Sustainability a...
 
More Northeast News
Washington, DC– Appian Opens Fredericksburg...
New York– Class Action Filed Over Countrywide...
Philadelphia– Report: U-Store-It HQ May...
New York– Bronx Housing Project Secures...
New York– City Ups Budgets for 13 BIDs
The BRA is expected to approve the amendment Thursday and it could be approved by the Boston Zoning Commission as early as Jan. 10 following a period of public comment, Hunt says. If approved by the zoning commission, developers of new buildings larger than 50,000 sf would be denied a building permit unless they meet at least 26 of the 70 green building guidelines established under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Hunt says the new requirements should not increase the cost of development.

“We’re not dictating any practice,” says Hunt. “That’s the beauty of the LEED system, it provides various strategies.”

But Greg Vasil, head of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, tells GlobeSt.com that green projects are usually more expensive, although it is hard to estimate exactly how much those costs increase a developer’s bottom line.

“The real interesting challenge,” he says, “will be as these standards are put into effect and implemented by the BRA, whether there are ways to help development to get done faster while imposing other regulations.”

Hunt says the city worked closely with the development community to come up with the recommendation and believes they are supportive of the measure.

FEATURES & BLOGS
Executive Watch
Playbook for the Turnaround
by Anthony J. LoPinto
TrendCZAR
Rearview Economics
by Jonathan D. Miller
Counter Culture
Black Friday Not Enough?
by Ian Ritter
Realty Bytes
Human Error
by Noreen Seebacher
Commercial Grove
Southshore Commons Still a Go
by Carl Cronan
FYI
US Lodging: Upsides and Downsides
by Daniel H. Lesser
ADVERTISEMENTS
SPECIAL REM REPORTS & GUIDES
remreprints.com