"Green building practices are sensible," says county planner Lorna Thomson."They're easy to learn." Green buildings, Thomson says, conserve energy, use as little water and other resources as possible, are often made of recycled materials, are healthier for humans and are cheaper to build and maintain in the long run.

Thomson says that Frontier Associates has already advised the county to educate the building community about green building, instead of simply legislating it. "If you make it mandatory builders will just build to the mandates but if you make it voluntary, they will often exceed the requirements,'' says Thomson.

The decision was an easy one to make for the supervisors because the 600 hours of training through December 2003 that is being paid by grant money from the California Public Utilities Commission. Contra Costa is the first county to sign up with the program, along with the city of San Ramon. Frontier Associates is looking for a minimum of five counties or cities.