EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report focuses on green building policies that affect state funded, owned, or leased buildings and provides recommendations for how best to proceed to encourage green building in State of Georgia facilities. This report is the result of research performed bythe Sustainable Facilities and Infrastructure Branch (SFI) of the Georgia Tech ResearchInstitute (GTRI), with support from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority(GEFA). The purpose of this study is to provide the state with data, analysis, and specificrecommendations to support its decision as to whether or not such a policy is in the bestinterest of Georgia residents, and to recommend next steps that can be taken to advancethe goal of green building for state facilities.Interviews with key stakeholders from state agencies in nine of the eleven states that haveadopted formal green building policies provided data that was essential to capturinglessons learned from those who have experienced LEED mandates within their organizations. The information collected during this interview process has been capturedin the form of case studies summarizing the green building programs in the nine statesinterviewed. The report also provides an overview of Georgia’s readiness and receptivitytoward green building at the state level, including an examination of the current green building marketplace in Georgia, a description of current capital processes in place for State facilities, and notable policy trends and actions that have influenced those processesin recent years. The state of the art of green building in Georgia provides a summary of State-level policy initiatives, State Agency initiatives, and other non-state green buildinginitiatives and incentives that presently exist in Georgia. These data combine to form the basis for evaluating potential green building policy scenarios for the state.The findings of this study suggest that Georgia is ready to begin the process of implementing its own green building program for state-owned buildings. In defining theelements that could be incorporated as part of an overall green building program for theState of Georgia, three basic categories of options emerged: Policy; Program; andEvaluation options. Policy Options examined in the study included: (1) Meet LEED or equivalent; (2) Endorse & Encourage LEED or Equivalent; (3) Create programs toencourage green building activity; and (4) Create a council or task an agency to developstandards or plans. Program Options examined in the study included: (1) TechnicalSupport; (2) Training; (3) Guidance Documents; (4) Demonstration Projects; (5)Incentives/Subsidies; and (6) Modified Institutional Practices. Evaluation Optionsexamined in the study included: (1) 3
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Party Certification, LEED or equivalent; (2)Regular reporting requirement; (3) Performance monitoring & reporting; and (4) PostOccupancy Evaluation.Each of these options was evaluated according to its social, environmental, and economicimpacts as well as implementability within the current state context. From these optionsthe study identified and evaluated four different potential paths that the state of Georgiacould take in the pursuit of greening its state facilities: (1) Maintaining Momentum; (2)Working with the Willing; (3) Coalitions and Consensus; and (4) Legislating LEED.Given the current state of green building in Georgia and the level of knowledge,
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