A few green-building developments this week: On the heels of a federal budget that included $300 million to expand a home-retrofit program, Canada released its first LEED guidelines for homeowners and homebuilders. “We suspect some builders will be slow to warm to sustainable construction,” said Winnipeg-area developer Cam Dobie. “But we know when we build green, it improves our bottom line.”
Meanwhile, across the pond, the U.K. Green Building Council called for a single sustainability code for non-domestic buildings that would mirror one already set up for homes. The code would replace a current hodge-podge of regulations.
And finally, across all sorts of ponds (hooray for virtual travel!), the Green Building Councils of the U.S., U.K., and Australia have agreed to create a common emissions measurement system for new homes and buildings. Such a system, they say, could be useful in a global carbon market. “There is nothing equivalent on the market right now,” said USGBC’s Michelle Moore. “This is new territory.”
