The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s ENERGY STAR program, the most well-known to consumers, should also be used to promote energy-efficient and Zero-Net-Energy, or carbon-neutral, commercial and institutional buildings. By 2010, we will begin seeing buildings routinely designed to cut energy use 50 percent or more below 2005 levels through integrated design and innovative technological approaches. With the growing awareness of the carbon dioxide/global warming problem and the contribution of buildings and urban settlement patterns to this observed global warming, architects and others in the design and construction industry have begun to propose positive actions. One sign of this is the position statement adopted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in December 2005, calling for a minimum 50 percent reduction in building energy consumption by 2010. ^[*] In its statement, the AIA supported the development and use of rating systems and standards that promote the design and construction of more resource-efficient communities. This position statement echoes the requirements of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, which seeks to reduce building energy use by 90 percent by 2010. ^{[ ]}

Many cities have subscribed to climate change initiatives and will begin to require green buildings for residential projects, especially large developments with major infrastructure impacts. For example, by early 2008, more than 800 mayors representing cities in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. signed on to a climate change initiative. ^[*] Mayors who sign on to the agreement make a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in...