Earlier this evening, Huntington, Long Island's town board approved legislation that offers local developers incentives for pursuing a LEED rating. The program requires developers to provide $1.00 per square foot to the town of Huntington itself. If developers build to any level of formal LEED certification, they get to keep 80 cents on each dollar upon final completion and award of a LEED rating. If the project does not receive LEED certification, all of the funds are forfeited to the town. Monies raised will finance the program itself, as well as assist Huntington in educating local officials about green building issues. Specific language from the Huntington legislation does not appear presently available.
Supervisor Frank Petrone explained the reasoning for the program to Newsday. "The forefront of government now is energy," said Petrone. "Why? Because it's eating us up alive costwise and it's an environmental issue. That's why we're working so hard."
Part of the incentives offered by the Huntington legislation provides for greater height on buildings and parking structures. "There's give and take here," Petrone said. "If we were going to give a little on the height and parking structures, environmentally it's going to make more sense. We feel by giving that, the environment will be better."
The legislation applies to commercial projects greater than 4000 square feet. An individual project's contribution to the fund is capped at $200,000.
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