USGBC shares March advocacy and policy highlights
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) engages in advocacy across the state, local and federal level for green building initiatives and decarbonization policies.
In March, the USGBC worked closely with the Arlington County staff to present new updates regarding LEED v5 and how the county’s Green Building Incentive Policy update aligns with LEED v5.
On the Federal level, USGBC noted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) to transfer primary management of the ENERGY STAR program from EPA to DOE. The memorandum states that a transition plan will be developed within 90 days. USGBC is monitoring developments closely and engaging with congressional appropriators to ensure the program’s continuity.
On the state level, USGBC expressed concern for new policies and set plans to monitor the implementation of the policies in Florida and Ohio. USGBC supports Rhode Island’s HB 7739/SB 2765, which would convert the existing Green Building Advisory Committee into the Green Building Advisory Commission to support the implementation of the Green Building Act. The bill would also lower the required renovation threshold for existing public buildings to achieve LEED certification from 40% to 20%.
The USGBC celebrated Washington state’s 2026 legislative season as an overall success, with the state holding the line against code backsliding, moving forward on housing-enabling reforms that can support more sustainable communities and continuing to refine its clean energy framework.
