Green Concepts and Vocabulary 21

• Energy Star Homes: A program for new homes that was created by the
U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Energy. Seattle witnessed a total of
5995 ENERGY STAR qualified homes built to date, whereas the State
of Washington witnessed a total of 14,673 ENERGY STAR qualified
homes built to date.
• LEED for Homes: Recently created residential rating system by the
USGBC. The USGBC says that “LEED for Homes is a consensus-
developed, third party-verified, voluntary rating system which promotes
the design and construction of high-performance green homes.” For
example, the City of Cincinnati currently offers a sizable tax incentive
for new and renovated homes that are certified under the USGBC’s
LEED green building rating system. The local Cincinnati chapter of the
National Association of Home Builders is requesting their organization’s
residential green building rating system, known as the National Green
Building Standard (NGBS), to be adopted for the same tax incentive.
•  Multifamily: Includes apartments, townhomes, and condominiums.
Incentives are offered for building efficiency, renewable energy (visit:
www.seattle.gov/dpd/greenbuilding for more details).
Another city deserving special mention is Nashville, Tennessee. For
many years, Nashville has been known as the country music capital of the
world. It is now also being acknowledged for its innovative community
planning and sustainability efforts. In fact, in recent years the city has started
to assert itself as a green building leader in the southeast by passing a green
building law, working together with the state on sustainability efforts and
helping to revitalize an aging community into a green community. Indeed,
the city’s sustainability efforts provide a model of leadership for Tennessee
and the wider southeast and some green proponents are seeking to make
Nashville the “greenest city” in the south. Nashville now requires LEED
certification for city owned buildings, so that all new and renovated struc-
tures meet green standards. Likewise, municipal facilities costing more than
$2 million or are in excess of 5000 square feet of occupied space must seek
LEED Silver certification.
In addition to the Cities of Seattle and Nashville, there are many other
cities in the United States that promote green building programs such as
Honolulu (Hawaii), New York (New York), Phoenix (Arizona), Fremont
(California), San Francisco (California), City of San José (California),
Anchorage (Alaska), Minneapolis (Minnesota), Portland (Oregon),
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Virginia Beach (Virginia), Washington (District
of Columbia), and many others.