City of Philadelphia makes two “green” announcements

From the Next Great City newsletter:

Green Building Legislation Becomes Law

On Tuesday, January 19, Mayor Nutter signed into law legislation introduced by  Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown that would require any new construction or major renovation of large city government buildings be designed, constructed and certified at the silver level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council.

The LEED-silver requirement within Bill No. 080025 applies to construction projects over 10,000 square feet that are primarily funded by City capital dollars and are controlled by the City. The ordinance requires that projects to be designed and constructed use at least 20 percent less energy than basic code-compliant structures. It applies to capital projects undertaken by all departments and agencies across the City, including the Airport, Water Department, and Public Property.

The signing of this law also fulfills a Next Great City recommendation for the city to build energy-efficient buildings! Many thanks to Councilwoman Reynolds Brown and everyone involved in its passage.

Philadelphia Aims to Increase Energy Efficiency
To help meet the Greenworks goal of reducing city government energy consumption by 30 percent by 2015, Mayor Nutter announced that the city will hire NORESCO, an energy service company. They will perform an energy audit on targeted city buildings and to recommend energy conservation measures such as lighting upgrades, energy management systems, water conservation measures, and new chillers and heating boilers, to be installed on the municipality’s behalf.

These improvements can decrease a facility’s energy demand by as much as 20 percent annually, and are paid for with the savings generated by the investments.