Arlington Revamps Green Building Incentive Program

• November 17, 2014

by Lark Turner

A green roof in the D.C. area.

The Arlington County Board voted 4-1 Saturday to update its Green Building Incentives Program.

The program is intended to help developers “build exemplary projects that meet stringent environmental standards.” In short, the voluntary program asks developers to adhere to standards more rigorous than the building codes they are required to follow. By participating, developers can request more density and height in the projects they are building. To take advantage of those incentives, they have to achieve a minimum level of energy savings and LEED requirements in their new projects. By building offices or multifamily buildings that support some of Arlington’s environmental goals, including “greater energy efficiency, site ecology, stormwater management and building reuse,” developers can also qualify for additional density.

The updated program asks developers to build using the LEED Version 4 rating system, which incorporates recent changes in technology and rates multi-family buildings on a separate system. Among other updates, it also specifically incentivizes net zero development. Buildings that are net zero generate at least as much energy as they use.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/arlington_revamps_green_building_incentive_program/9227