Regulatory Info & Articles

Green Communities

City of Cotati
Cotati's Sustainable Building Program mandates that every new residential development must achieve at least 60 points from the Greenpoint Rated checklist.

City of Petaluma
Petaluma's Community Development Department has partnered with Build It Green to launch a voluntary green building program in which Green Point Rated homes will be eligible for a $500 rebate, and the first five projects to be Green Point Rated will receive plaques and citywide recognition.

City of Rohnert Park
The City of Rohnert Park has developed a tiered system for green building requirements. New buildings are subject to different GreenPoint Rated thresholds according to type (single dwelling, multiple dwelling and commercial), size and density. Single dwelling units must achieve between 90 and 110 points and new multifamily dwellings must achieve at least 80 points. All new commercial buildings are required to meet LEED for Commercial Interiors or Core and Shell.

City of Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa - Build It Green (SR-BIG) has had a voluntary program to promote environmental protection through building and remodeling with a more sustainable approach. Recently, the City of Santa Rosa (Resolution #27001) has approved and adopted green rating systems and compliance thresholds for commercial and residential building. U.S. Green Building Council LEED® Commercial Green Building Rating will be adopted for commercial projects. 20 credits under the LEED® rating system will be required. For residential construction the Build It Green – Green Building Residential Guidelines will be adopted. 50 points under the Green Point Rating System will be required. The Council also introduced for adoption two new ordinances aimed at increasing energy efficiency and green building practices within the City, Chapter 18-34 “Local Energy Efficiency Standards” and Chapter 21-09 “Green Building”.

City of Sebastopol
The City of Sebastopol has a green building policy wherein every new residential and commercial buildings and commercial remodels over 1,800 sq. ft. achieve at least 60 Green Points in total and at least 15 points in Indoor Air Quality, Energy Efficiency and Resource Efficiency from the GreenPoint Rated guidelines. A third-party GreenPoint Rater must verify compliance.

City of Windsor
The City of Windsor has adopted a Green Building Standard Ordinance (No. 2007-215) that requires new residential and new commercial construction buildings comply with Green Point Guidelines and LEED respectively. New residential must achieve at least 50 points on the GreenPoint rating system and new commercial construction must achieve at least 20 points on the LEED rating system.

Our Neighbors…

Marin County
Marin County's GreenPoint Rated-based policy requires that new buildings subject to discretionary review must achieve a predetermined number of Green Points according to the size of the building. All single family dwellings larger than 3,500 sq. ft. are subject to the energy efficiency budget of a 3,500 sq. ft. building.

City of Novato
The City of Novato requires that each new residential building achieve at least 50 GreenPoints with a minimum of ten points in each category. Major renovations must achieve 30 points with a minimum of five points in each category. Completed GreenPoints checklists must be submitted to the Planning Department and the Building Department.

City of San Rafael
San Rafael has developed a rigorous policy in which all new single- and multi-family residences, as well as residential additions over 500 sq. ft. must achieve 60 points on the GreenPoint Rated checklist. In addition, all commerical and civic buildings over 5,000 sq. ft. must be LEED certified and all those over 30,000 sq. ft. must achieve a LEED Silver rating.

Statewide Efforts
Green Building Initiative
Through his Green Building Initiative, Governor Schwarzenegger has committed California to leading by example in improving the energy and environmental performance of existing and new state-owned buildings. By implementing sustainable practices in the facilities it owns, leases, retrofits or maintains, California can cut energy use, conserve resources, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Executive Order S-20-04, calls for reducing electricity consumption in state buildings 20 percent by 2015. Reaching that goal will include a combination of benchmarking the energy efficiency of state buildings, and retro-commissioning and retrofitting facilities to ensure that energy systems are operated as efficiently as possible.

As part of the Green Building Order, California is embracing the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The state is pursuing LEED-New Construction certification for its major construction and renovation projects.

In addition, the state is seeking LEED-Existing Building certifications for existing facilities in order to ensure energy efficient building operations and maintenance practices.
California is also encouraging and enabling schools built with state funds to be resource and energy efficient.

The Green Building Action Plan established the Green Action Team to oversee and direct progress toward the goals of the Governor's Green Building Executive Order S-20-04. The Green Building Action Plan describes the actions that support the Executive Order including recommendations for any additional actions, mandates or legislation that may be warranted to reduce grid-based energy purchases.