The U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement recognizes the importance of green building as a way of rapidly bringing greenhouse gas emissions under control. Through Cool Mayors for Climate Protection, more than 50 mayors in all 50 states are using a web site to share success stories of municipal green building programs and examples of model ordinances. And the National Association of Counties Green Government Initiative offers resources to encourage counties to assume a leadership role in spurring the green building movement.
 
Focusing on green building clearly delivers measurable results. Commercial and institutional buildings certified through LEED, the US Green Building Council’s green building rating system, use an average of 32 percent less electricity, 26 percent less natural gas and 36 percent less total energy than standard buildings. The green buildings also use 40 percent less water and their construction results in 70 percent less solid waste, further reducing emissions over traditional construction and operation.

Cities and counties are using a variety of programs to promote green building in the residential sector. LEED for Homes is a new program, now in the pilot phase, that focuses residential buildings. There are also many well established programs.

• One of the most popular tools is the federal ENERGY STAR Homes  program, which results in homes that are 30 to 50 percent more energy efficient than conventional homes. 
• Cities and counties have also partnered with the local building industry to create green building programs. Alameda County, California, developed its own Green Building Guidelines to serve residential builders and homeowners. The guidelines have since been spread statewide through the non-profit Build It Green and have evolved into a third-party-verified rating system, GreenPoint Rated. Preliminary analysis done by Alameda County’s StopWaste.Org estimated that the greenhouse gas emissions reductions from each new GreenPoint Rated home keeps 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year.
• Some communities link climate-action plans to other programs, such as affordable housing. For example, a study found that weatherizing 12,000 homes in Ohio cut utility costs for low-income homeowners by an average of several hundred dollars per year, while also avoiding more than 24 tons of carbon dioxide.
• In San Francisco, the Mayor’s Task Force on Green Building recommended implementing green building performance standards for all building types over a five-year period. The estimated cumulative benefits include:
  • Carbon dioxide reductions of 60,000 tons. 
  • Energy savings of 220,000 megawatt hours.
  • New green power generation of 37,000 megawatt hours.