San Francisco awarded WorldGBC’s “Best Green Building Policy”
Alicia Livitt | January 6th, 2012
San Francisco has long been recognized, both anecdotally and officially, as the one of the greenest cities in the world with global recognition of its green credentials. Just recently, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-17) held in Durban, South Africa (December 2011), San Francisco was named as a recipient of the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) Government Leadership Awards for Excellence in City Policy for Green Building. Specifically, San Francisco was honored with the Best Green Building Policy award for its San Francisco Green Building Ordinance.
Supported by educational outreach, innovation and incentives, the revolutionary building ordinance calls for all new commercial, residential and municipal construction to be built to LEED standards, and existing buildings to publicly disclose energy labels, participate in periodic energy audits, and engage in mandatory water efficiency retrofits at the time of sale. According to the WorldGBC award publication, “San Francisco’s Green Building Ordinance requirements together represent the strictest, most ambitious, most comprehensive policy approach to the built environment yet undertaken by any city in the United States.”
Five other international cities, Mexico City, Birmingham, Singapore, New York City, and Tokyo, were also recognized with each receiving unique awards for their pioneering initiatives in environmental building policy.
Over eighty Green Building Councils from around the world, including ICLEI and UN-HABITAT network members, designated nominees for the award. Charged with making the final decision, a panel of expert judges, drawn from green building and sustainable cities backgrounds, evaluated the nominees through a five-category points system:
- Effectiveness of initiative in transforming the industry
- Cost-effectiveness of initiative
- Scale of emissions reductions
- Demonstration of environmental leadership and innovation
- Replicability and relevance to other locations
The WorldGBC intends the annual awards “to inspire other governments at all levels, share and replicate best practices in green building policy, and underscore green buildings as a winning strategy to reduce carbon emissions.”
