Time for a "New Wave of 'Green Building'" in Virginia

Keep in mind that buildings in the United States are responsible for nearly 2/5 of total energy use and carbon emissions. Which is where "green building" comes in.  According to Wikipedia:

Green building is the practice of increasing the efficiency of buildings and their use of energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal - the complete building life cycle.

[...]

Green buildings are more than a random collection of environmental friendly technologies.[4]. They include careful attention to the full life cycle impacts of the resources embodied in the building and to the resource consumption and pollution emissions over the building's full life cycle.

Even green building, however -- as Trip Pollard of the Southern Environmental Law Center points out -- isn't enough.  According to Pollard, "measures to offset the increase in greenhouse gases should include more public transit, less highway construction and a focus on energy-saving buildings."  In other words, "green buildings" need to be combined with "smart growth" to really start having a big impact on solving our environmental problems.  Is this as hard as it sounds?  According to Wikipedia:

...the environmental impact of buildings is often underestimated, while the perceived costs of building green are overestimated. A recent survey by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development finds that green costs are overestimated by 300%, as key players in real estate and construction estimate the additional cost at 17% above conventional construction, more than triple the true average cost difference of about 5%

Also, McKinsey & Company just released a study that found:

The United States could reduce GHG emissions in 2030 by 3.0 to 4.5 gigatons of CO2e using tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies. These reductions would involve pursuing a wide array of abatement options with marginal costs less than $50 per ton, with the average net cost to the economy being far lower if the nation can capture sizable gains from energy efficiency. Achieving these reductions at the lowest cost to the economy, however, will require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future.

"Strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future." What are we waiting for?

P.S.  The Metropolitican Washington Council of Governments includes the following jurisdictions in Virginia: City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, City of Falls Church, Prince William County, City of Fairfax, City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park.

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