USGBC Names Top 10 List of Green Building Bills

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its top 10 list of legislation advancing green building and the economic activity and jobs that come with it. Congressional members, including Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), were honored at an event for their support of green building.

“Green building saves energy, water and money,” said Roger Platt, senior vice president of global policy and law, USGBC. “It is one of the most promising solutions to critical global issues such as climate change, resource depletion and dependence on foreign energy sources. These bills will create jobs and pump money into our economy.”

The USGBC Top 10 honors The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and spotlights nine other pending bills in the House and 10 in the Senate that represent the best proposals to advance green building. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed into law last February, dedicates more than $22 billion for energy efficiency projects, including $346 million for energy-efficient building technologies specifically.

“The Members of Congress and senators we are honoring are all demonstrating bold leadership toward a clean energy future, a sustainable built environment and a sustainable economy,” Platt said.

The top 10 list includes bills that have been introduced in Congress in the last year that would enable innovative financing for homeowners and building owners to make efficiency improvements, increase and extend incentives for improving our schools and existing building stock, and encourage job growth and training in new fields of building energy management and retrofits.

"Our country will rise and fall based on how we educate our children and study after study shows that where children learn has a huge impact on what they learn,” Chandler said. “Not only will this bill begin to fix our crumbling public schools, but it will create local jobs that cannot be shipped overseas, save energy, and, during these tough economic times, make a significant long term investment in our country's most valuable resource: our children."

“With our crippled economy, continuing energy crisis and changing climate, Americans need timely and effective solutions to set a new course for how we use and think about energy,” Snowe said. “Energy efficiency has emerged as one of the most effective and expeditious actions that can be taken to preserve valuable resources for producers and consumers. I am pleased to work with Senators Feinstein and Bingaman to build upon the success of past tax credits and provide critical energy efficiency tax incentives that will spark innovation in our housing and commercial building sector and pave the way for economical and environmentally conscious living.”