Salt Lake County leaders want green building to be the new standard in Salt Lake County.
The Salt Lake County Council is expected to pass a resolution today supporting Mayor Peter Corroon's effort to use environmentally friendly building techniques in all new buildings and remodels of county facilities.
And county leaders hope private business owners will follow suit.
Green building incorporates everything from using recycled materials and natural lighting to solar panels and drought-tolerant landscaping in new construction.
The county will use the criteria from the U.S. Green Building Council's program, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), when constructing new and remodeling current county buildings. Buildings earn points toward LEED certification for elements that improve conservation, sustainability, water and energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
"Constructing buildings to LEED standards is not only an environmentally conscience thing to do, but it's financially feasible to do," said County Councilman Jeff Allen, a Republican who is sponsoring the resolution. "For our organization, we are going to do it, and we'll encourage others to look at it."
Corroon signed an executive order in March 2006 that called on county agencies to "incorporate environmentally sustainable practices in their day-to-day operations."
The resolution up for debate today takes that order up a notch and focuses solely on constructing new buildings with LEED standards. Ann Ober, the mayor's environmental policy coordinator, said the mayor's office is "thrilled" to have the county council's support of Corroon's environmental goals.
"It's responsible," Ober said. "You have to look at what's the best we can do for our community. And the best we can do for the community is a building that performs well, lasts a long time and allows for good quality of life both inside and outside of the building."
The county owns three buildings that were constructed with LEED standards, Ober said. And the County Council recently required that new recreation centers be built with the same standards.
The resolution will impact several new buildings that are on the horizon, including new libraries, a library administration building and a possible new home for the district attorney.
A year ago, the Salt Lake City Council passed a similar ordinance, requiring all city-funded buildings of at least 10,000 square feet to become LEED certified. Mayor Rocky Anderson also issued an executive order in 2005 requiring all new city buildings to look for energy efficiencies and minimize pollution.
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