State launches green building rules

Governor David Paterson’s administration is launching new green building requirements to reduce real estate development’s carbon footprint in New York. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is moving to require developers planning large-scale developments to account for impacts on climate change, and the policies would have developers estimate the level of greenhouse gases their developments would create when the projects are reviewed. The DEC hopes to formally institute the new policies by the summer. “We’re trying to integrate climate change into everything we do,” said Anne Reynolds, director of the DEC’s policy office. “At a basic level, it’s to try to encourage project proponents and public agencies to think about these issues as they’re making these decisions.”