August 16, 2005

The Honorable Madeline T. Provenzano
Chair, Housing & Buildings Committee, New York City Council
250 Broadway, 17th Floor
New York, New York 10007


Dear Council Member Provenzano:

As business leaders of New York and members of the New York chapter of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), we are writing to urge you, as Chair of the Housing & Buildings Committee, to support the Green Buildings Bill, Intro. 324-A. This bill would help reduce the health and environmental impacts of buildings while creating quality jobs and encouraging economic development in New York City. We urge you to do your best to ensure that your Committee and the City Council pass this important bill this month.

E2 www.e2.org is a national organization of business and professional people who support good environmental policies based on their economic merits. Collectively, E2's over 600 members have created more than 800 companies and 400,000 jobs, and manage $20 billion of venture capital. Here in New York, our ranks include top executives of companies in many industries, including securities, technology, venture capital, consulting, media, telecommunications and law. Working with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental advocacy organization, we advocate for public policies that makes both environmental and economic sense.

E2 supports Intro. 324-A as a good public policy that will benefit the City's environment, economy and public health. The bill will require most new and substantially renovated City buildings, including $5 billion in new schools, to be constructed in a healthy and environmentally sound manner. New York City buildings covered by this bill must be built according to green building standards that are not less stringent than the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system. LEED, which was created by the United States Green Building Council, is well-established as the nation-wide industry standard. In addition to meeting LEED standards, Intro. 324-A will also require many City building projects to reduce energy use by at least 20-25% and water use by 30%, saving millions of dollars a year in operating costs and benefiting the environment by avoiding power plant pollution.

Many will benefit from the healthier indoor environment of LEED certified buildings, including students, teachers, other city workers, as well as members of the building trades. Since most electricity in New York City comes from local power plants, the general public will also benefit from reduced building energy consumption that translates directly into less smog, acid rain, asthma and heart disease.

Moreover, LEED promotes many practices that, in addition to being financially beneficial for the building owner, increase the need for skilled labor by creating new classes of work. For example, LEED creates incentives for labor intensive projects by crediting buildings that verify the performance of energy systems, take steps to reduce stormwater runoff, and recycle construction waste. Importantly, LEED standards also promote the use of local materials and technologies, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood, which represents 921,000 acres of New York State forests. Because there are numerous FSC-certified forestry operations in New York, the use of certified wood also significantly benefits the State economically. This important feature of Intro 324-A should be retained.

In short, Intro. 324-A gives New York City an opportunity to lead by example and demonstrate that it is possible to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings while promoting economic development. Therefore, we urge you to support this bill and use your leadership as Chair of the Housing & Buildings Committee to ensure that the City Council passes this important bill this month.

Thank you for considering our views.

Respectfully,

SAN FRANCISCO
111 Sutter Street, 20th fl.
San Francisco, CA 94104
TEL 415 875-6100
FAX 415 875-6161