FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(PHILADELPHIA) June 4, 2015 – Today, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, Chair of the City Council Committee on the Environment introduced a bill to provide floor area and height zoning bonuses for developers who meet Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Currently, zoning bonuses exist for those meeting LEED Gold and Platinum. The bill is co-sponsored by First District Councilman Mark Squilla.
LEED is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices. To receive LEED certification, building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. Categories that earn LEED points include materials and resources, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, location and transportation, indoor environmental quality and innovation among others.
Meeting Silver LEED certification would grant an additional 12 feet to the currently zoned building height maximum in addition to increased floor area. Already in the Philadelphia Code are height incentives to meet LEED Platinum (36 ft.) and LEED Gold (24 ft.). The amended table in the Code would be as follows:
“We are serious about achieving Mayor Nutter’s goal of becoming the Greenest City in America, and therefore are consistently on the lookout for new, innovative ways to incentivize going green,” said Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown. “Developers are always in search of more space and we as a City Council are interested in seeing environmentally responsible and sustainable construction, so this is a win-win scenario for both parties.”
For additional information please contact Communications Manager Jason Lewis at 215-686-3438 or 267-250-2925.
Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown has passed meaningful legislation and supported valuable community programming that positively impacts her core issues: children and youth, women, education, small business development, arts and culture and the environment and sustainability. Councilwoman Reynolds Brown is the only woman to win an At-Large Council seat since 1999.
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