Fellow green building blogger Stephen at GreenBuildingsNYC had an editorial published called "The Greening of Buildings: Babylon Town’s adoption of an environmentally friendly building code has virtues, but could scare off potential development."  Stephen talks about Town of Babylon’s adoption of a LEED Code (likely the nation’s strictest) requiring commercial, industrial, office, and multiple residential buildings larger than 4,000 sf to get LEED certification.  I recommend giving the article a read, but I wanted to highlight a few salient points that he made: 

1. LEED ordinances that require an actual USGBC certificate face opposition from interested parties because (1) depending on the size of the project, owners will need to pay a minimum of $35,000 per project just to secure certification (unless Platinum certified), and (2) there is a potential for delay in process of evaluating applications. 
2. LEED ordinances that "automatically adopt any future versions promulgated" could be problematic.  By doing this, a town has effectively handed the keys to its local building code to a third party.  The building code can be subject to modification any time. 
3. An effective means of encouraging green building practices is through the use of financial incentives such as floor-area bonuses under the existing zoning, expedited review of building permits, and various tax credits and rebates. 

Good food for thought.  These are just a few points from the article.  It’s important to remember that LEED is a means to sustainability, it’s not the end, by any stretch of the imagination.  Nice work, Stephen. 

I’m going to keep this short, but as an FYI, the blogosphere is officially welcoming Green Options to the scene.  In full disclosure, I am a contributor to the site, so I have a modicum of bias as far as that’s concerned.  That said, I’m not so connected to anything to put myself in a position to not be honest.  If that makes sense.  Although Green Options is being heralded as new to the green scene, many of its contributors are old pros when it comes to the blogging world.  Here are a few heavy-hitters with their own blogs in parenthesis:  Jeff McIntire-Strasburg (Treehugger + Sustainablog), Michael d’Estries (GroovyGreen + Ecorazzi), Rebecca Carter (GreenerMiami + Ecorazzi), Shea Gunther (Musings of an Eco-Entrepreneur), Philip Proefrock (EcoGeek, contributor), and Amy Stodghill (It’s the Environment, Stupid). 

I like the simplicity of the site.  It’s clean and very easy to look at.  I really dig "The Green Report," not to be confused with the popular Drudge Report.  I can’t wait for The Green Report to get some big-time visits from the public, to watch news work its way around that page.  The Green Report is going to be like Hugg is to Digg.  If you know what I mean.  Nice job Shea + Jeff. 

Update (4/2/2007): In the interests of full disclosure, I thought I would mention that I’ve decided to no longer be a member of the Green Options blog team. 

As you all know, Carnival of the Green is basically a carnival of blog posts that gets passed around from one green site to another.  Posting happens on Mondays.  Treehugger graciously supports the endeavor, so pop on over there if you’re interested in hosting a carnival or submitting an article (carnivalofgreen [at] gmail dot com).  Last week, Carnival #61 was at Clay & Wattles, and next week, Carnival #63 will be at Nonoscience.

That said, I received a ton of articles and commentary, a virtual smattering of diverse topics, so go ahead and check ‘em out.  Here we go in no particular order:

• Greening the Green Festival (Video = 5:53 min.) – by Melissa Mansfield + Averan Gale at LAGreenLiving. 
• What’s Next for Nature?  Innovation and a Few Ads – by Victoria E at Victoria E. 
• Eco-Fashion Q&A: Denim Repair and Cheap Style – by Victoria E at GroovyGreen. 
• Geologists Find Strong Evidence of Climate Change – by Barbara Feiner at OrganicAuthority.com. 
• Ecological Decline "A Greater Threat than International Terrorism": The Challenge for Business – by Leon Gettler at Sox First. 
• Living with Ed Makes Fun of Environmentalists and Should be Cancelled – by David at The Good Human. 
• Beyond the Green Corporation – by Rich at Queercents. 
• Beware of Greenwashing at the Grocery – by Micaela at Mindful Momma. 
• It’s Time Again for Nuclear (with 150 coal plants on the drawing board)! – by Jake Kearns at Real Green Tips. 
• Birth of an Advocate: From Sports Cars to Hybrids – by Beo at GroovyGreen. 
• Barenaked Ladies Look After Their Mother + ‘Firefighter’ Blows Smokescreen at Fire Retardant Legislation – by Matthew Fried at Enviroblog. 
• Weiners & Burgers Heating the Planet More than Cars – by Sally Kneidel at Veggie Revolution. 
• Harvesting Justice (marginalization & health risks of farm workers) – by Harlan Weikle (Editor of Greener Magazine) at Veggie Revolution. 
• Fresh Water Tanganyika – by Greener News Room at Greener Magazine. 
• Envirolet Composting Toilet in Stage Production of "The War Next Door" – by Scott Smith at Envirolet Buzz. 
• State of the (Green) Union – by Don Bosch at The Evangelical Ecologist. 
• Tear Up CRP Ground and Contracts for Ethanol? + Now It’s the Ethanol Surge – by Ken Cook at Mulchblog. 
• Illegal Coffee Growing Threatens Wildlife, Kraft Major Buyer + Follow Up: Nestle & Starbucks Respond to Illegal Coffee Report by The Bird Barista at Coffee and Conservation. 
• Keeping Wildlife Coverage Wild, Engaging – by Jeremy Bruno at The Voltage Gate. 
• Professor Quippy: Climate Change Scientists Get Angry – by Mark A. Rayner at The Skwib.
• High Anxiety: Thoughts on the Sustainability of High-Rise Developments – by Roger Butterfield at Words and Pictures. 
• Green is Making Me See Red (L-O-N-G) – by Wenchypoo at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket. 
• Top Socially Responsible Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Firms – by H.S. Ayoub at BioHealth Investor. 
• Jim Webb: Is a Star Born? – by Rey Thomas at The Thomas Political Report. 
• Patching Holey Clothes – by Kevin Surbaugh at Becoming & Staying Debt Free. 

That’s about 28 articles, so this should be enough to keep you busy for the next week.  Thanks for letting me participate Treehugger!!

Well, I don’t know how this will go, but who cares, right?  I’m going to give it a shot.  Preliminary voting has opened for The Seventh Annual Weblog Awards: The 2007 Bloggies.  There are a few different categories that you can vote in, but I’m only going for the "Best New Weblog" category.  Prizes are nominal, if that, but I think it would be fun to increase exposure to modern + green building and real estate development.  Here’s how:

• Category: "Best New Weblog"
• Nominee: "Jetson Green"
• URL: "http://jetsongreen.typepad.com" 

And make sure to confirm you vote when it’s emailed to you.  Voting closes on Wednesday, January 10, 2007, at 10:00 pm EST.  If you read green blogs, Treehugger and GroovyGreen are going for a bid as well.

I agree with Siel that goals should be SMART.  Inspired by Geekwhat (caution: bust image), I’ve decided to broadcast three goals I have for Jetson Green.  They say (I don’t know who exactly, but…), "A goal is not a goal until it is written down," so blogging these should keep me accountable.  Here we go. 

1. Leave 5 comments a day elsewhere.
2. Reach the 100,000 total new visitors mark (currently at +14,000 total), need to get about 1,700 new visits a week (versus my current 1,100).
3. Publish 2 articles in print magazines. 

Aspirational?  Yes.  Doable?  Yes.  Although I have one concern.  I don’t think the comments goal is measurable, but I will keep a running tab in my notes.  The other two goals are measurable and all three goals must be performed by year end.  For #2 + #3, I rely on the generosity of others; for example, if people stop visiting, then I will never reach 100,000 new visitors. 

What am I going to do to make it happen?  Keep generating quality, rich, noteworthy, focused content.  Keep tweaking the site based upon visits, site statistics, and reader feedback.  Keep blogging daily.  And enjoy every minute of it.