The West Hollywood Green Building Program was updated in 2019 to keep pace with progressive national sustainable building design standards, the State's Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen), and ever-evolving local and regional industry trends. With input from City staff and community stakeholders, including residents, local business owners, and local industry professionals (learn more about our process HERE), the updated West Hollywood Green Building Program includes flexible development standards, opportunities to innovate, high-achieving measures, and a clear path towards continuing the City's tradition of leadership in climate action.

High-performing green buildings have multiple benefits, including reduced environmental impacts to the built environment, increased occupant health, productivity, and well-being, lower long-term operational and maintenance costs, and a higher return-on-investment (ROI). With green building technologies, components, and materials becoming more commonplace throughout the last decade, design and construction costs for high-performing green buildings can oftentimes be equal to that of traditional buildings.

Any project requiring a development permit is subject to the requirements of the West Hollywood Green Building Ordinance. The West Hollywood Green Building Program Manual details the applicability and documentation requirements for each provision of the program.

The updated Green Building Ordinance becomes effective on January 1, 2020. All applicants submitting after this date must follow the requirements of the City’s updated Green Building Program.

No, the updated Green Building Program is not a point-based system. It consists of local mandatory green building requirements to be implemented in addition to State building code (CALGreen) requirements. The City also no longer offers green building program incentives, though we strongly encourage projects to consider going above and beyond our local requirements and incorporating innovative, forward-thinking strategies into the building design.

Yes, in addition to State and local green building requirements, projects seeking approval of a development agreement or a specific plan must pursue one of three high-achieving green building measures. Please the West Hollywood Green Building Program Manual for more information. 

Applicants are welcome and encouraged to pursue LEED certification in addition to meeting the West Hollywood Green Building Program requirements. Since the City’s program is no longer a point-based system, there is not an equivalent alternative to meeting local requirements through a third-party rating system. However, many of the state and local green building requirements align well with LEED, which should facilitate an applicant’s pursuit of LEED certification. Applicants pursuing LEED must still show in their application how their project complies with local and state green building requirements in addition to LEED requirements.

Please note achievement of LEED Platinum is one of several high-achieving measures available for projects seeking approval of a development agreement or a specific plan. See the West Hollywood Green Building Program Manual for more information.  

Yes, a project can earn points toward the EA credit: Green Power and Carbon Offsets in LEEDv4 if it participates in the Clean Power or 100% Green Power programs offered by the Clean Power Alliance. This credit encourages projects to reduce their carbon footprint by using grid-source, renewable energy.

The Clean Power Alliance is a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program that provides customers with greener, renewable electricity options. West Hollywood joined the Alliance in 2017, which gives all electricity customers in the City the option to power their homes or businesses with cleaner power at a competitive price. If interested in earning LEED points for your project, applicants can contact the Clean Power Alliance at info@cleanpoweralliance.org and/or the US Green Building Council at https://www.usgbc.org/contactus for more information.  

The West Hollywood Green Building Program relates to several other City initiatives, including but not limited to:

• General Plan & Climate Action Plan, which goals are to administer an active and robust green building program and reduce the City's contribution to global climate change.
• Clean Power Alliance, which provides the opportunity for all buildings in West Hollywood to obtain cleaner power from renewable energy sources at a competitive price.
• EV Charging Readiness, which includes new buildings preparing to convert parking spaces to EV charging spaces at the time of construction.
• STAR Communities Certification, which supports cities strengthening their ongoing sustainability efforts and integrating relevant best practices into its citywide initiatives.
• Vision 2050, which supports building on the success of the City’s past initiatives and preparing the City for the future.