Arlington County, Va., is the first community to achieve Platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) newly created LEED for Communities program.
The certification recognizes the County’s “leadership in creating a sustainable and resilient urban environment that has long-proven success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing stormwater, ensuring economic prosperity and focusing on education, affordable housing, health and safety for residents and businesses,” USGBC says. Progress and outcomes for the program are measured using Arc, a digital platform that benchmarks and tracks performance data at the building, city, and community level.
The county’s sustainability achievements include developing a commuter rail and smart growth strategies in the general land use plan. The county also created a program target to reduce county government's carbon emissions by 10% by 2012, compared to 2000 levels. It achieved that goal by improving energy efficiency in the County government's buildings, vehicles, and infrastructure.
In addition, the County's Community Energy Plan (CEP), adopted in 2013, established a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 75% by 2050. The County recently became the first locality in Virginia to approve an ordinance allowing a Commercial-Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program—a public-private partnership to provide affordable, long-term financing for projects to improve the energy or water efficiency of commercial buildings.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Feb 14, 2019
ISO publishes first global BIM standards
Based on British standard and a publicly available standard.
Codes and Standards | Feb 12, 2019
Property technology adoption accelerates in commercial real estate industry
New business models create disintermediation.
Codes and Standards | Feb 11, 2019
Investing in downtowns pays off for cities, regions
Benefits include driving tax revenue, business activity, and smart development.
Codes and Standards | Feb 8, 2019
Oslo, Norway’s downtown goes virtually car-free
Parking spots converted to bike lanes, transit is fast and easy.
Codes and Standards | Feb 7, 2019
New North Carolina energy code has extensive lighting control requirements
Includes automatic shut offs for buildings of all sizes.
Codes and Standards | Feb 6, 2019
Solar carports can help with California’s Title 24 mandates
Can be combined with virtual net-metering software and tax-enabled financing.
Codes and Standards | Feb 5, 2019
Milwaukee board approves rezoning for Western Hemisphere’s tallest mass timber building
Mixed-use tower would rise 21 stories high.
Codes and Standards | Feb 1, 2019
Mass. governor proposes real estate transfer fee hike for climate resiliency projects
Opposed by real estate and trade groups, plan could generate $1 billion in next decade.
Codes and Standards | Jan 31, 2019
New York City will reform construction bid process
Streamlined process intended to improve efficiency, reduce hassle for bidders.
Codes and Standards | Jan 30, 2019
New AGC program aims to diversify construction workforce
More diversity needed to keep pace with demand for workers.