Los Angeles is poised to adopt one of the toughest green building laws in the nation. Two city council committees recently voted to require that all major commercial and residential developments cut projected energy and water use. Under the ordinance, privately built projects over 50,000 square feet must meet a sustainability standard by adopting a checklist of green practices. The list includes such items as low-flow toilets, paints with low emissions, use of recycled materials, efficient irrigation, solar panels and use of natural light.

U.S. institutional investors pledged at a U.N. summit to invest $10 billion over two years in technologies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to pressure companies to disclose their risks associated with climate change. The investors also agreed to pressure companies to disclose climate change-associated risks and to incorporate green building standards into their investments. The 2008 investor summit on climate risk, organized by the United Nations and an NGO called Ceres, brought together institutional investors to discuss the risks and economic opportunities associated with climate change.

The San Francisco federal building does not currently qualify for even base LEED accreditation. Architect Thom Mayne, who designed the building, said in a recent interview "I just assumed we had the platinum rating. All of a sudden we went through LEED and it wasn't working." Described as ahead of its time, the systems used for environmental control in the federal building are said to be so innovative that they have yet to be considered so by the Green Building Council, who claims that LEED is a work-in-progress, and have consented to take the next few months to reevaluate the federal building.

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the U.S. Green Building Council said they will launch Regreen, a series of guidelines for ‘green’ residential remodeling, in March 2008. Designed for use by residential designers, construction professionals and homeowners, Regreen includes best practices, learning programs and print and electronic resources. Michael Alin, executive director of the ASID, called these guidelines “a first for the industry" and added "we are developing curriculum for learning programs and designing a comprehensive and user-friendly website to assist in green residential remodeling”.

The American Institute of Architects says an increasing number of municipalities are offering incentives to go green. And, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, more organizations such as architects and nonprofits are joining its group. A study by the National Association of Home Builders and McGraw-Hill Construction showed 2 percent of the commercial and residential construction market was green in 2006. The study projected that in 2010 the number of green buildings could encompass up to 10 percent of the market.  From 2003 to November 2007, the number of cities in the U.S. with green building programs in place rose from 22 to 92 out of 661 communities studied, an increase of 418 percent, according to a study by the American Institute of Architects.

Bank of America will form an environmental banking group to explore financing opportunities for renewable energy and resource conservation.  CEO Kenneth Lewis unveiled the development during a speech to the North Carolina Emerging Issues Forum. He also called for Congress to set federal carbon standards and create a cap-and-trade framework to allow large polluters to trade carbon credits with smaller polluters. Last spring, the company committed $20 billion to help its business customers take advantage of opportunities presented by an emerging green economy.