The U.S. Internal Revenue Service announced that it has allocated $406 million in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) for a total of 312 renewable energy projects to be located throughout the United States. Unlike normal bonds that pay interest, CREBs are known as "tax-credit" bonds, and they pay the bondholders by providing a credit against their federal income tax. The new bond allocations range from $15,000 to $30 million and are set aside for 139 solar energy facilities, 102 wind power installations, 45 landfill gas facilities, 18 hydropower plants, 5 biomass power plants, and 3 trash combustion facilities.

San Mateo County recently voted to add sweeping green regulations to green construction requirements to take effect in late 2008. The new regulations will cover homes and industrial projects. The green commercial and industrial buildings can pass under the LEED system while residential properties can be gauged under Build it Green’s “Green Point Rated” system. Green Point Rated, a residential, Green rating system created by the Berkeley-based non profit, uses various point categories to achieve certification. Homeowners can combine various point categories, as long as they add up to the 50 point total. Homeowners will have to pay a specialized green building inspector to verify their project for the county which will set them back about $800 to $1000, and for commercial owners it will cost from $2500 to $3500. Applicants will also be required to post a $5,000 bond prior to receiving a building permit, which will be released when the 50 points are verified.

The U.S. Green Building Council said recently that “There are numerous hotels being reviewed by USGBC right now so the number of certifications will increase quickly". On the heels of an announcement by Marriott International that the company was increasing the number of its LEED architects from eight to 50.  Glenn Hasek, publisher of GreenLodgingNews.com, an online publication for those in the hospitality industry, confirms that LEED has become the standard that hotel chains are pursuing. "It makes sense that these buildings will be better investments in the long-term"  Hasek continued to say that  “from budget motels to luxury high-rise hotels, we are seeing a tremendous change occurring in the hospitality market”. USGBC went on to say that hotel owners and operators are increasingly using green building practices and seeking LEED certification because they, as the rest of the market has, realize it is fundamentally good business.

Although large companies continually grab the headlines with far-reaching announcements about carbon reduction, recycling and eco-friendly products, small businesses have just as much ability to affect the environment, according to Greenbiz news.  In the United States, small businesses (firms with less than 500 employees) employ half of the private sector workforce and use half of the electricity and natural gas consumed by the commercial and industrial sectors. While it's no groundbreaking revelation that everyone has to do their part to lessen their impact on the environment, the challenge lies in bringing the smaller players together and putting them all on the right track towards green building.  Although there are other groups organized like BALLE - a nationwide organization that works with smaller local networks - there are other ways for green businesses to come together, including many other independent green business groups or sustainability programs developed by chambers of commerce.

In what is refers to as "the first and only true consensus-based standard for residential green building" the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) new green building standard is expected to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and published by NAHB and the International Code Council (ICC) in early spring 2008.  The National Green Building Standard is based on the three-year-old NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, but enhanced to include residential remodeling, multifamily building, and lot and site development. The standard also requires builders to include features in seven categories: energy, water and resource efficiency; lot and site development; indoor environmental quality and homeowner education. It also adds the higher Emerald Level to the Bronze, Silver and Gold certification levels for the Guidelines.

A coalition of more than forty U.S. and European institutional investors, responsible for more than $1.75 trillion in assets, have announced a commitment to invest in $10 billion "clean technology" over the next two years.  The investors said they would place green building standards at the core of future investment decisions.  Other goals include a 20 percent reduction in the energy used in property investment holdings over the coming three years. The plan, an attempt to use capital to address climate change, was unveiled at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, hosted by the United Nations Foundation and the Ceres coalition in New York.