The City of East Lansing council has approved a new Green Building Policy. This innovative policy will ultimately lead to an increase in environmentally friendly public and private development within East Lansing’s city limits in the future.
“This policy makes East Lansing the first community in Michigan to condition our economic development incentives on LEED certification,” says East Lansing councilmember, Nathan Triplett. “We are leading the way in the promotion of sustainable building practices. The policy will make our city a hub for green development in a market where consumers are increasingly looking for green options.”
Along with LEED certification requirements that differ for public and private development, the new Green Building Policy also encourages all new private developments in the City to incorporate LEED or similar green building practices, such as ENERGY Star certification, and low impact design elements.
“In addition to a strong environmental case for this new policy, there is a rock solid business case. LEED certified buildings typically cost zero to two percent more to build, but result in a 20 percent energy costs savings over the life of the structure," says Triplett. "In other words, on a percentage basis, the return on investment is ten times the initial cost. Green buildings help reduce carbon emissions, water usage, electricity usage and lower utility costs for consumers."
Source: Nathan Triplett, City of East Lansing
Suban Nur Cooley, interim development news editor, can be reached here.
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