Policy Engagement

In the last year we have advanced DC's green building and energy efficiency legislation through our testimony and organizing other's participation in the policy making process and its implementation. We co-hosted five DC Agency Director's Roundtable meetings to support implementation of the DC Green Building Act and collaborated in crafting PACE legislation to finance hundreds of building retrofits in the District.

Greenspace engages diverse stakeholders to create, adopt and implement sound green policies such as:

• Sustainability agendas for the District and the Region
• Greening building codes
• Energy Star benchmarking
• Residential energy performance reporting
• PACE Legislation
• Green Building Act Clean & Affordable Energy Act

History of Changing Policy

GreenHOME was one of the leaders of a coalition effort to re-shape and enact the "District of Columbia Green Building Act of 2006", making Washington, DC the first major city in the country to require green building standards for both private and public buildings. Greenspace worked with a team of business, nonprofit organizations and government agencies to develop and pass the more recent PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) legislation for the District of Columbia--establishing a financing mechanism to support the energy retrofits of commercial and residential buildings throughout the District.

Government capacity for implementation

To successfully implement the Green Building Act, GreenHOME served as a support and catalyst to DC government departments and agencies and helped them coordinate their efforts as they developed regulations and procedures. GreenHOME Executive Director, Patty Rose, is one of Mayor Fenty's Green Building Advisory Council appointees. GreenHOME Board member Cliff Majersik and Board chair emeritus Chris VanArsdale also serve on the Advisory Council.