San Francisco Creates Green Building Task Force

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the greenest cities in the country now has a task force in place that will focus on increasing the number and quality of sustainable buildings in the area.

The Green Building Task Force, assembled by Mayor Gavin Newsom as part of his Clean and Green Initiative and Climate Action Plan, is responsible for developing expanded green building standards for all new private construction projects in San Francisco .

Comprising the task force are experts in sustainable design, real estate development, finance and construction. The group’s major roles will include advising the planning department, the department of building inspection and the department of the environment on new construction. It will inform city agencies of new regulations and incentive programs to support sustainable design and construction in the city.

The creation of the task force is expected to be fully operational by mid-June. It will compliment the existing city mandate that gives priority permitting to all private development projects in San Francisco that are designed to meet LEED gold certification.