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Greener Libraries for San Jose

The biggest city in the Bay Area - and one of the fastest growing - is following the path blazed by its famously green cousins to the North, Seattle and Portland, with potentially important consequences for the Bay and its watersheds.

On June 19, the San Jose City Council unanimously adopted a series of Green Building policies, including a goal that all new construction and major retrofit projects of city facilities and buildings over 10,000 gross square feet of occupied space meet specific Green Building Guidelines within the next two years.

"We have a lot of building planned for the next 20 years," says San Jose's Darren Bouton, "so from the standpoint of potential impact, we really have an opportunity to make a huge difference in a lot of structures." Bouton points to the city's plans to build 20 new libraries and 10-12 new community centers by 2010.

San Jose's green building goals focus on five major categories: site selection, energy and atmosphere, water use efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The water use efficiency goal calls for water use reduction within buildings and water efficient landscaping, as well as for innovative wastewater technologies that reduce the generation of wastewater and potable water demand while increasing local aquifer recharge. The site selection goal includes a stormwater management component. The goals are based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDTM) rating system, a voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Although the building guidelines apply only to city structures, Bouton says a key part of the city's strategy is to encourage private developers to adhere to the guidelines. He notes that a number of commercial developers are already receptive to green building principles. "It will benefit the private sector to be ahead of the curve on this," he says, "we want to help them get there." Although the new policies do not include any financial incentives for sustainable building, Bouton says the city is exploring other ways to promote it. "We might develop ways to expedite the permitting process for buildings that meet these guidelines, for example," he says.

Contact: Darren Bouton (408) 277-4670 CH

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