Panel suggests 100 Ways Buildings Can Be Greener http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/science/earth/02green.html?ref=todayspaper HUD Announces the first Recovery Act Green Retrofit Grant for Multi-Family Housing http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/states/new_york/news/HUDNo.2010-01-12a Urban Green Council [pdf] http://www.urbangreencouncil.org/greencodes/ Cities Go Green http://www.citiesgogreen.com/ U.S. Green Building Council: LEED http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19 Charlottesville: A Green City http://www.charlottesville.org/index.aspx?page=2098 Designing buildings in a sustainable and environmentally friendly fashion continues to be an important issue for urban planners, architects, and public officials. With that in mind, a panel of experts convened by the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg of New York issued a set of substantive recommendations on how to make Gotham City's building codes more environmentally sound. Many cities have taken part in such initiatives over the past decade or so, and these recommendations included a set of rules for insulating skyscrapers and also placing temperature controls in individual apartments. Of course, this will most likely increase the cost of building renovations or new construction, and it is anticipated that there will be a significant outcry from various trade organizations and construction companies. Before starting this process, the city made sure that members of these industries were represented on the panel. The mayor and others have commented that these recommendations are crucial in terms of reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The first link will take users to a news article from this Monday's New York Times about the recommendations of this panel. The second link leads to a related press release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about an initiative to retrofit multi-family housing through the Green Retrofit Program. Moving on, the third link whisks visitors to the homepage of New York City's Green Codes Task Force Proposal. Here visitors can learn about their various proposals and code suggestions. The fourth link leads to the very helpful CitiesGoGreen website, where visitors can learn about different sustainability solutions for persons working in local government. The fifth link leads to a site provided by the U.S. Green Building Council, which provides information about the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The last link leads to the city of Charlottesville's official "green" homepage. It's a great place to learn about their green initiatives and related matters.