City of Austin - Green Building Policy for Municipal Buildings

LEED Silver Building Requirement

The City Council of Austin passed a resolution (Resolution No. 000608-43) in June 2000 requiring that all future building projects be built in accordance with the standard of the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver.

In November 2007 this policy was revised (Resolution No. 20071129-045) to set two criteria for triggering the LEED Silver requirement for new construction and major renovations:

• the project includes work in the five major LEED categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality, and
• the project has construction costs of $2 million or more.

In addition, smaller renovations, additions, and interior finishing costing $300,000 or more and requiring work in the LEED energy and atmosphere, material and resources, and indoor environmental quality categories must also achieve LEED Silver certification at a minimum.

Energy Rating Disclosure

All non-industrial commercial buildings—including civic buildings—are also required to complete an energy rating using either the Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Portfolio Manager or the Austin Energy Business Energy Analysis rating tool if the building is at least 10 years old as of June 1, 2009 (Ordinance No. 20081106-047). A copy of the energy rating calculation must be made available to a prospective purchaser of a building.