-By Alex Palmer and Jessie Bove

The U.S. Green Building Council has teamed up with the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program to get communities to do more green building. The organizations announced today (Nov. 12) that they are partnering for the “Green Buildings for Cool Cities” effort, which brings together businesses, community leaders and members from more than 200 cities, as well the USGBC’s 78 chapters to encourage local governments to adopt green building policies.

During a press conference at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Phoenix, the organizations released a policy guide laying out guidelines for building up sustainable communities. They also touted the success stories of cities like Dallas, Santa Monica and San Francisco. A representative from Scottsdale, Ariz. explained how the city had instituted a policy of requiring all municipal buildings to meet the LEED Gold standard.

Cool Cities launched in 2005 to provide additional support to cities that were making green commitments in a range of ways to help mobilize constituents and business people to help. The partnership with USGBC focuses these efforts specifically on the built environment of cities and municipalities.

“The idea is to bring those advocates together,” said Glen Brand, program director of Sierra Club Cool Cities. “Combining the organizing power of Sierra Club activists and the technical expertise and advocacy of the U.S. Green Building Council members to push for green building policies on the local level.”

The policy guide features a number of local success stories with links to further information. It also outlines basic information about LEED certification and the benefits of green building. The guide is available at www.coolcities.us and usgbc.org.

“The green building movement must be dramatically and rapidly scaled up,” said Brand. “I think it’s important to understands that green building is an economic strategy.”

—Nielsen Business Media