Last night, Evanston City Council voted 8-1 in favor of an extraordinary ordinance requiring large new commercial buildings to meet the LEED Silver standard of green building. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a comprehensive building rating and certification system maintained by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The green building ordinance that was passed last night only applies to new commercial construction over 10,000 square feet, which may not affect any real estate developments for some time. However, a special appointed committee consisting of local developers, businesses owners and environmental advocates are planning to jointly design a new section of the ordinance that would extend the rating requirement to interior renovations. This section is due to be voted upon in December.

While green building ordinances are becoming more commonplace - adopted by nearly two hundred municipalities and growing - the vast majority apply only to government buildings and/or government-financed developments. The City of Chicago's green building standard fits this category, which was announced by Mayor Daley in 2004.

Evanston joins a small handful of municipalities that have mandated LEED building standards for privately-funded commercial buildings, joining municipalities like Boulder CO, Arlington MA, and Pleasanton CA. The Evanston Climate Action Plan estimates commercial buildings emit 58% of the city's emissions.

For applicable construction projects that do not meet LEED Silver, a sliding-scale fine will be levied based on the shortfall of points from the LEED Silver minimum, as well as the total cost of construction.

"Evanston committed to reducing total emissions 13% by 2012," said Paige Finnegan, co-author of the original ordinance and co-chair of the City's environment board. "This ordinance alone isn't going to get us there, but it sure shows how firm our City's commitment is, through the best of times and the worst of times."