ARLINGTON, VA–Arlington County has been namedthe first Platinum level community under theUS Green Building Council's LEED for Communitiesprogram. This follows the District's award this past September of the first LEEDfor Cities Platinum in the world. USGBC expanded the scope of itsprograms last year with its addition of communities and cities toLEED. These new standards measure sustainability performance acrosssuch metrics as energy, water, waste, transportation, and humanexperience — a category that includes education, prosperity, equityand health and safety.

Arlington's sustainability story began in the 1960s with itsMetrorail planning, followed by the Smart Growth strategiesoutlined in the General Land Use Plan. Then the county launched itsArlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE) effort in 2007. AIREset a target to reduce the local government's carbon emissions by10% by 2012, compared to 2000 levels. It achieved that goal byimproving energy efficiency in the county government's buildings,vehicles and infrastructure and through other efforts.