In communities worldwide, government agencies, homebuilder associations, professional and environmental groups, and others have come together to organize green building programs. Partnerships of state government agencies, local governments, and other organizations have also been formed to encourage and implement sustainable building practices in state, local, and schools projects.
The following list provides links to many of these ongoing efforts to educate and encourage market transformations so that sustainable building practices are more widely known and adopted.
- Government Programs
- Higher Education Curriculum Development
- Industry and Government Unite
- Home Builder Programs
- Organizations
- Schools
Government Programs
Higher Education: Design Curriculum
Several efforts are underway to develop and include Sustainable Design curricula into California’s Design professional programs.
- SEDE: Sustainable Environmental Design Education, CalRecycle has partnered with the Renewable Energy Institute at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo to improve the adoption of sustainable environmental design principles in higher education and industry continuing education programs in architecture and landscape architecture.
Industry and Government Unite
Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship
Signed on January 8, 2002, this agreement establishes a ten-year schedule to increase the amount of reuse and recycling of post-consumer carpet and reduce the amount of waste carpet going to landfills. The Memorandum of Understanding is the result of a two-year negotiation process between members of the carpet industry, representatives of government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, and nongovernmental organizations. The agreement is a voluntary initiative that encourages manufacturers to assume product stewardship–the responsibility for the lifecycle of carpet from point-of-sale to disposal.
- Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is the industry-lead 3rd party organization that is responsible for the outcomes of the National Carpet Product Stewardship Agreement.
Home Builder Programs
National
State and Local
- Build a Better Kitsap: Kitsap County, Washington
- Built Green Colorado: Colorado
- Green Building Program: New York
- Green Built Home: Wisconsin
Organizations with Sustainable Building Programs
- American Institute of Architects, Committee on the Environment
- Build It Green
- Centre for Alternative Technology
- Florida Green Building Coalition
- Global Green USA
- Habitat for Humanity
- National Center for Appropriate Technology
- National Resources Defense Council
- Sustainable Communities Network
- U.S. Green Building Council
For more information contact, the Office of Public Affairs, opa@calrecycle.ca.gov