Questions to consider

• What standards can be used to guide design and verify performance of green buildings?
• What language can be used in contracts to ensure provisions for green construction?

Note: All links on this page lead to external sites.

Green building standards

• BUILT GREEN™ – King and Snohomish Counties (Washington)
  BUILT GREEN™ is an environmental building program designed to help Puget Sound homebuyers find quality, affordable homes that offer opportunities to protect health and the environment. The program provides an easy-to-understand rating system, which quantifies environmentally friendly building practices for remodeling and new home construction.
• U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
  The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is a voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven building rating system based on existing proven technology. It evaluates environmental performance from a "whole building" perspective over a building's life cycle.
• Health House Advantage Certification - The American Lung Association
  The Health House Advantage Certification program is nationally recognized for raising the standards of residential air quality and energy efficiency.
• Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard
  The Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard sets a standard for affordable sustainable development in Washington State.

Green building proposal and contract language

• Writing the Green RFP: Sustainable Design Language for Consultant Requests
  The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (COTE) published this guide to greening requests for proposals (RFPs) and qualifications (RFQs). Written for clients, it presents the basics of the RFP for design services, addresses some considerations unique to the green RFP, and offers sustainable design language.