DuPage County Board has approved joining the Sierra Club’s Cool Counties program, an initiative that may result in fast-track for LEED certified buildings as an inducement.
The county invites businesses, environmental leaders and other community members to be part of an effort that will include The Conservation Foundation, which has worked with the county for two years to help formalize the plan, The Naperville Sun reports.
“Businesses use half of the energy and electricity in DuPage,” Brook McDonald, the foundation’s president and CEO was quoted as saying. He added that businesses could reduce their carbon footprint by building LEED-certified buildings.
But now it’s time to take it up a notch,” he said.
Brook McDonald, the foundation’s president and CEO, said that the initiative will focus on three sectors of the county: business, private residents and transportation.
“Businesses use half of the energy and electricity in DuPage,” McDonald said.
One way that businesses could reduce their carbon footprint, McDonald said, would be to build LEED-certified buildings.
The published report didn’t specify the details of initiatives to encourage the LEED certification process.
In a press conference after the County Board meeting, County Board Chairman Dan Cronin described the county’s initiatives it has already taken to reduce its carbon footprint, including building its own power plant, installing a green roof and retrofitting aged mechanical equipment.
“But now it’s time to take it up a notch,” he said.
