The Boise City Council in August approved a new Green Construction Code that will be a standard for all new city-built projects and voluntary for other developers.

“Buildings are responsible for more than 40 percent of global energy use and one third of global greenhouse gas emissions,” Boise Mayor David Bieter said. “As a city government, we want to lead by example and we hope this new voluntary code will foster more sustainable development practices without putting onerous requirements on new growth.”

The voluntary Green Construction Code addresses such things as site development and land use, water conservation, energy conservation, and indoor environmental quality. Developers who participate will receive the city’s recognition as “Green Pillar” projects and expedited building permit processing. In order to verify a building meets the new standards, a third-party building commissioning agent must verify the building performs as claimed.

The city said the first city-owned projects to be built under the new standards will be the new Library! at Bown Crossing and two new fire stations that voters approved in a bond issue last fall.