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Boston will require new large buildings to meet green building standards

Hooray, Boston: The city is soon expected to require that all new construction projects of 50,000 square feet or more meet green building standards. Projects will be required to follow at least 26 of about 70 suggestions for green design and construction, similar to the U.S. Green Building Council's minimum LEED standards. Buildings will not be required to be LEED-certified -- "The LEED process can be lengthy, onerous in documentation, and costly," says James W. Hunt III, Boston's chief of environmental and energy services -- but the city will have its own certification process, and will revise its building code to adhere to the standards. "We'll be the first city to implement green building requirements," says Hunt. Um, not quite: Pasadena, Calif., requires much of its private construction to meet green standards, New Mexico requires compliance for all buildings over 15,000 square feet, and many other locales, including 18 states, have green standards for new public buildings. But a big pat on the back for Boston nonetheless.

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