San Jose is the latest U.S. city to mandate green building standards for all new construction, including private projects.
On October 7, 2008, the San Jose city council voted to adopt mandatory green building standards for all new construction, according to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. The standards, intended to reduce water and energy usage, will apply to all housing developments with 10 or more units. On the commercial side, buildings under 25,000 sf will be required to meet basic standards outlined by USGBC's LEED standard. Buildings larger than 25,000 sf must meet the LEED Silver standards.
