Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sun, 11/21/2004 - 15:59.
NEO leaders increasingly care about sustainable development, shaing a viewpoint expressed by Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston: "Green building
is
good for your wallet. It's good for the environment. And it's good for
people." Large industrial cities like Cleveland may find insight and best practices from initiatives like the Green Building Task Force of Boston - read on…
City-Wide Green Building Goals Set in Boston – RenewableEnergyAccess.com
- November 19, 2004
Boston, Massachusetts [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Boston has
some of the oldest buildings in the nation. While they're architecturally
beautiful, they probably wouldn't pass muster for good energy and environmental
design.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino appointed a Green Building Task Force
in 2003, and the group has come back with recommendations on how to bring the
city's municipal buildings and all large construction projects up to speed with
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating
established by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"Green building is good for your wallet. It's good for
the environment. And it's good for people," Mayor Menino said. "I
asked this Task Force to make recommendations to help Boston become a national
leader in green building - and that is what we're going to do."
LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for
developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. The standard provides a
complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting
sustainability goals. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED
emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water
savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental
quality.
The Green Building Task Force is comprised of experts in
every area of building design, construction, management, and financing, as well
as public health and environmental experts. Green buildings can decrease
negative effects on the environment, generate substantial cost savings for
building owners and tenants, reduce dependency on imported energy, and enhance
worker health and productivity. By promoting new green buildings and
development, as well as "greening" Boston's existing buildings, the
city seeks to stimulate new business growth and job creation for Boston.
It wouldn't be a Boston effort if the Red Sox didn't get
involved some how. Inspired by the Mayor's plan, the Sox have committed to
exploring green building opportunities for upcoming construction projects at
Fenway Park.
Keyspan Energy, a utility company for the New England area,
announced that the company's intent to dedicate $250,000 to green building
efforts through an Emerald Network team. The money will include funding for employee
training in green building practices and technologies, as well as grants for
projects that incorporate significant energy-saving features.
"Just as the Emerald Necklace adorns the city with
green spaces, KeySpan's Emerald Network will help enable public buildings and
development to become more green," said KeySpan Chairman and CEO Robert B.
Catell. "This initiative will support the Mayor's standard by helping
developers and building owners make their facilities more green. It makes good
health sense and it makes good economic sense."
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