Small City, Big Impact

West Hollywood officials hope that the system is simpler than the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. (Some developers complain about the paperwork required for LEED certification.) Los Angeles architect Anthony Zubick is about to find out. He's designing a three-apartment project in West Hollywood for a French developer that will comply with the city's requirements. Meanwhile, he's also building a home for himself in Los Angeles that he's voluntarily designing to the LEED standards. As it turns out, says Zubick, "the West Hollywood rules are a little more lenient than the LEED program."

Still, West Hollywood officials admit that their city's green initiatives-like others around the country-do drive up building costs. But they insist that the expenditure is eventually made up in reduced utility bills. Melcer figures getting to his green goal will add "roughly 10 percent" to the cost of his seven-condo project. "It is a little bit more costly, but we think the benefit of going green in terms of marketing and the environmental point of view is worth the incremental cost," Melcer says.

The city's homegrown green plan is already drawing enquiries from other municipalities around the country. Global Green USA, which helped develop West Hollywood's system, has already received calls from Henderson, Nev., Claremont, Calif., and McKinney, Texas. Walker Wells, director of the Global Green USA's sustainable communities program, worked closely with West Hollywood and says any city that develops its own plan should work to reflect its own values. But he sees West Hollywood as "a great example of a small place that can make a difference." And that's always exportable.

© 2007