Indianapolis government leaders, according to IndyStar.com, are making it easier to build green buildings. A new program provides incentives for property owners and developers to renovate or construct new buildings in a sustainable manner. What are the incentives? The program allows for projects built after August 1 to receive up to a 50 percent rebate on building permit fees associated with the green project. The incentives encourage building owners and developers to integrate sustainable design techniques and practices into their projects.
According to the Indianapolis Green Building Incentive Program website, buildings participating in the project must meet criteria principally based on the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The Indianapolis program, however, does not require a building to be LEED registered or LEED certified.
Indianapolis joins a long list of other cities that either offer incentives to build green or require green building for all new projects. Only a few weeks ago, the City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, approved a policy that requires all new building rezonings to meet the LEED Gold standard. The change will take effect January 31, 2011.
"By bringing in a LEED Gold standard, we'll reduce our greenhouse gasses, create new job opportunities for our local green building sector, and continue to take a leadership role on urban planning in North America," said Mayor Gregor Robertson.
Vancouver's new policy supports the Greenest City 2020 goals of leading the world in green building design and construction, as well as creating 20,000 green jobs in Vancouver by 2020.
