Attachment a – LEED and LBC the City of Santa Monica Is an Internationally Recognized a Leader in Sustainable City Planning
Attachment A – LEED and LBC The City of Santa Monica is an internationally recognized a leader in sustainable city planning. In 1994, it was one of the first cities in the world to publish a Sustainable City Plan. The City continues to pursue long-term environmental goals outlined in its Climate Action Plan. Current City codes mandate enough sustainable features to almost guarantee a minimum LEED Gold rating for new building projects. LEED Platinum, the highest LEED standard, is becoming increasingly common. The Pico Library, completed in 2014, is on track to achieve LEED Platinum certification. LEED Certification In 1993, LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), was developed as a program of the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certification has been recognized across the globe as the premier mark of achievement in green building. Buildings are rated LEED Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum based on increasingly rigorous measurements. For more information on LEED, see http://www.usgbc.org/leed. The Living Building Challenge In 2006, an even more rigorous international rating standard for sustainability, the Living Building Challenge, was developed by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). The Living Building Challenge is a philosophy, advocacy tool, and certification program that promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in the built environment. Similar to LEED, the LBC offers three levels of recognition: Living Building Certification, Petal Recognition or Net Zero Energy Building Certification, the most challenging level is full Living Building Certification. A full Living Building Certified (LBC) project achieves net-zero energy, net-zero water and contains no cancer-causing chemicals.
[Show full text]