Boost the size requirement for private buildings.
Include fines for those who don?t comply.
Give builders more time to adjust.
Howard County business and community leaders suggested a smattering of amendments to bills aimed at boosting environmentally friendly building.
Many who testified at Monday?s County Council hearing supported the concept but said the proposals needed tweaks ? and that all communities affected by the laws should be involved in the discussion.
“The building industry is committed to a consensus-based approach,”said Tom Ballentine, government affairs director for the Home Builders Association of Maryland, who added that the group had no role in crafting the legislation.
County Executive Ken Ulman?s green building proposal requires new buildings be certified in nationally accepted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, techniques and offers tax credits for certain levels of LEED certification.
The proposal also pushes green neighborhood techniques, such as reforestation, by offering builders additional housing allotments.
The measures don?t include fines, and the mandates would affect development plans submitted after July 1, 2008.
One of the most common suggestions was that the green building standards should be encouraged through incentives, such as those proposed, and not mandated.
“I think you would get a lot of compliance” through incentives, said Cole Schnorf, a senior vice president at developer Manekin LLC in Columbia. “Developers ought to have a choice.”
Ulman said the administration has other environmental regulations, such as stormwater management procedures.
Other common suggested amendments included:
» Increasing the requirement for private buildings from 20,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet. The Howard County Chamber of Commerce and several developers said following green techniques for smaller buildings is less cost-effective than in larger projects.
» Eliminating the requirement that developers pay a bond that guarantees the project will receive LEED certification. This surety can be complicated and unnecessary, developers said.
The council plans to parse through the legislation at two work sessions next week before voting at the end of the month.
“I think there are substantial issues that may take time,” said Councilman Greg Fox, R-District 5.
