ADVOCACY

Pace Bill SB 385

Category Advocacy

Having passed in both the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, the PACE bill (SB 385), is headed to Governor Perry’s desk and is one step closer to becoming law. This is a big accomplishment and represents a milestone toward a green building future for Texas.

PACE will help commercial building owners afford efficiency upgrades to existing buildings via property assessments and will have a positive effect on a building owner’s bottom line. PACE is good for business and good for the community. PACE is good for jobs, good for private investment and it encourages lending. PACE makes sense from an economic perspective and will help Texas businesses and the Texas economy.

 More background on PACE is available here.

 “The Texas Chapters of the U.S. Green Building Council consider high performance building as integral to triple bottom line solutions that strike a balance between environmental, social and economic prosperity. We believe that the legislation fits incredibly well with that philosophy and represents a milestone toward a sustainable future for Texas,” said David Matiella, Texas Statewide Advocacy Chair for USGBC.


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Green Building Day Resolution - HR 1617

Category Advocacy

THE TEXAS CHAPTERS OF THE U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL : CENTRAL TEXAS - BALCONES | TEXAS GULF COAST | NORTH TEXAS | CHIHUAHUAN DESERT

(representing 2,500 members - builders, architects, engineers, building owners and managers)

would like to acknowledge the GREEN BUILDING DAY RESOLUTION - HR 1617 in the 83rd session as filed by the Honorable Representative Mark Strama.

High performance building is integral to triple bottom line solutions that strike a balance between environmental, social, and economic prosperity.

Our partner organizations who support Green Building Day:

The TSA Texas Society of Architects, AIA American Institute of Architects, San Antonio Chapter and Austin COTE, the ABAA - Air Barrier Association of America, the AGC - Austin and Waco Chapters of the Association of General Contractors, the Austin Association of Facility and Maintenance Engineers (AAFAME), Austin Community Colleges, the International Association of Lighting Designers, BOMA - Building Owners and Managers Association, Austin International Facilities Management Association, The City of Austin Office of Sustainability, the City of Converse Mayor’s Office, Solar San Antonio, Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, NeighborWorks Texas, Environment Texas, the Texas Drought Project, Austin Energy, and Clear Result, South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency (SPEER) and the University of Texas at Austin.

The Texas Chapters of the USGBC would like to say THANK YOU!


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State Advocacy Day 2013

Category Advocacy

Advocacy is a cornerstone of the North Texas Chapter mission; to promote a sustainable, profitable, and healthy environment in the North Texas area through education, professional training, and outreach. Government regulations and laws have a significant impact on every nonprofit organization and the people they serve, and our Chapter is no exception. It is therefore imperative that our Chapter remain involved with policymakers at the city, state, and national levels.

Year-round, the Chapter Advocacy Committee works to increase green building awareness and promote policy change, often in partnership with other professional organizations such as AIA, BOMA, and TREK. With the 83rd State of Texas Legislative Session upon us, Advocacy volunteers coordinated the third annual Green Building Advocacy Day at the Capitol on February 24, 2013. Chapter staff, committee representatives, and volunteers from all four USGBC Texas Chapters (North Texas, Gulf Coast, Central-Balcones, and Chihuahuan Desert) spent the day visiting the offices of legislators to educate and discuss with them the importance and significance of specific bills.

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STATE INITIATIVE - 81ST LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Category Advocacy

The North Texas Green Council, along with other State of Texas USGBC Chapters, recently collaborated in efforts to promote green building practices at State initiated levels.  The State Advocacy Team was very successful in coordinating the efforts of all four Texas USGBC Chapters during the 81st Legislative Session with a uniformed campaign covering 14 various bills and hosting the first Green Building Advocacy Day at the Austin State Capitol on April 27, 2009.  A brief description of each bill outcome is listed below.

 

HB431

This proposed comprehensive bill, authored by Representatives Lucio (D-Brownsville), Alvarado (D-Houston), and Kent (D-Dallas), turned out to be the most discussed bill followed at the Legislative session, ultimately turning into an omnibus bill including fragments of SB 267, HB 3149 and other associated legislation.  The omnibus bill, which originally mentioned “LEED” as a conditional criterion, stayed alive until the very last day of the legislative session but eventually failed to pass.

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Projects

DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER

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LEED NEWS

GBCI LEED CREDENTIAL MAINTENANCE PROGRAM