Los Angeles Goes "Green"

In honor of Earth Day, Los Angeles became the largest city in the US to join in the battle against global warming. The LA City Council unanimously adopted regulations that require builders of large commercial and residential developements to adhere to measures such as planting drought-resistant landscaping and using recycled materials and energy-efficient heating, cooling and lighting.

The law requires new commercial buildings and high-rise residential structures with more than 50,000 square feet of floor space to meet a nationally recognized "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" (LEED) standard. It also would cover major renovations and low-rise developments of 50 units or more. The rules would amount to preventing about 85,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next five years, the equivalent of removing 15,000 cars from the roads.

For a city that houses over 10 million people and over 3.3 million housing units, it's not a bad start. Now let's hope we can convince small-time developers that the benefits of green building far outweigh the costs.