Baltimore City Green Building Standards
TerraLogos: eco architecture led and coordinated a large consulting team to develop the new Baltimore City Green Building Standards in 2009 (Standards). Working for the Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Team TerraLogos included: CCJM Engineers, Chicago IL; ATI Architects, Columbia MD; the Ecologic Studio of the RBA Group, Columbia, MD; and ImpactHR with Thomas Point Consultants of Columbia, MD. Working closely with the Permit Review and Construction Code Enforcement divisions of HCD and the Baltimore City Office of Sustainability located in the Dept. of Planning, we developed a strategy and program for meeting the requirements of the city’s 2007 Green Building Ordinance.
The Standards are the regulations and process by which the City will ensure the design and construction of green buildings for public and private development in Baltimore. The Standards are based on the US Green Building Council LEED® v3.0 (2009) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating program, which has been adapted and customized to fit the development conditions, local market and sustainability goals of the City. The Standards are designed to work with the regular permit review and construction inspection process conducted by HCD and are based on 150 credit points with a score of 65 points needed to earn the city’s 2-Green Star rating.
The Standards also build on the sustainability goals of the city as established in the Baltimore Sustainability Plan and give “bonus” and “automatic” points to certain credits that help lower Green House Gas emissions, storm water pollution, reduce energy use and create healthier more vibrant neighborhoods and development within the city.
The primary goal of the Baltimore City Green Building Standards is to promote the design and construction of verifiable green building projects in Baltimore City. Green buildings and projects can add to the quality of life in Baltimore, reduce our collective energy and water use and lower our impact on the natural environment. Green building is also an important economic development tool that will promote high quality development and will attract people who want to live, work and play in a vibrant, cleaner, greener and revitalized urban center.
If you would like more information on the Standards, or how Team TerraLogos can assist your community in generating similar guidelines or to develop tailored regulations that can help your community become more sustainable or develop “green,” please contact Kim Schaefer at kims@terralogos.com; 410-276-8519.