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Cities adopt Construction & Demolition Recycling ordinance

Sara Conner Court Apartments, Hayward, CA, is a GreenPoint Rated project revitalizes a brownfield site, provides 57 new affordable rental homes, and creates a community that is attractive, environmentally friendly and healthy. The project recycled 50% of construction waste and features a Bay-Friendly Landscape. Courtesy of: Richard Rollins Photography

StopWaste.org encourages cities within its jurisdiction to adopt and implement a Construction & Demolition Debris Recycling Ordinance and a Green Building Ordinance. The county program provides technical assistance, training, grants, and model policies, ordinances and contract language. Twelve cities now have these ordinances in place.

All 14 cities in Alameda County have conducted baseline emissions inventories through the ICLEI protocols. Through StopWaste.Org, Alameda County is working with ICLEI to quantify the benefits of non-energy emissions related to waste, recycling, sustainable landscaping, environmentally preferable purchasing, and more.

In the United States, commercial buildings provide approximately 78 billion square feet of floor space. These buildings can save 35% or more on annual energy costs through energy-efficient upgrades, creating more than $25 billion in annual savings. (USEPA)