USGBC
promotes a greener, more resilient & prosperous future

Our community

Sustainability and green building are projected to see growth for years to come, with its influence reaching across the U.S. economy, generating significant environmental and social benefits. Backed by community, research and tools, we use advocacy, partnerships, and campaigns to drive development of green buildings and communities.

Sustainability and advocacy

Our advocacy goals ensure that:

Taxpayer dollars being spent on federal, state and municipal buildings are going towards buildings that cost less to build and operate and are healthier for people.
Citizens’ disaster recovery funds are spent on high quality, resilient buildings that mitigate climate related risks and promote social equity and health.
Lawmakers and elected officials have access to current and cutting-edge information on green building and resilient communities so they can make the best decisions.
Those who are using LEED are being rewarded through incentives and other benefits.

Our advocacy priorities

Discover green building-related and LEED-specific policies across the U.S. in the USGBC Public Policy Library. The library shares details on policies at the federal, state and local levels that incentivize, require or otherwise promote green building measures, including LEED.

Government leadership by example

Federal, state and local governments recognize the importance of leading by example in energy and green building policy. Improving resource efficiency represents an enormous opportunity to save taxpayer money, save energy and water, and drive investment and jobs. At every level, we see policies and practices that benefit the broader building industry.

Private sector market transformation

Governments help support robust private sector green building activity with policies to incentivize building green and removing unnecessary barriers. At USGBC, we promote policies that foster market transformation, including structural incentives like density and height bonuses and expedited or no-cost permitting, information mechanisms like benchmarking, and financial incentives like tax credits, grants and low interest loans.

Raising the bar on codes and regulations

Building codes and regulations play an integral role in fostering the progress necessary to realize far-reaching and truly sustainable buildings and communities. States and cities have critical roles in improving baseline-building requirements, and in establishing policies that promote best-in-class building strategies and practices. We work to support this transformation and to help align baseline building code with above-code green building certification using LEED, to facilitate seamless improvement.

Community-wide sustainability

Sustainable communities look beyond a single building and holistically use smart design and construction and operation practices to enhance community connectivity and wellness and reduce environmental impacts, from effects on local waterways to contributions to global warming. Public policy supporting sustainable communities can also unlock economic growth and provide important opportunities to build in-demand skills in the construction workforce. Through our work with Resilient Communities for America and other partnerships, we support planning, design, and building strategies that help communities build better, more resilient futures.