Green is the buzzword in the building industry, and Sussex County Council is jumping on board with a new voluntary green-development policy.

The policy encourages environmentally sensitive building, and would reward the upper echelon of “Super Green” developers with expedited reviews of their plans.
Expedited review could save developers as much as a year on the planning and zoning waiting list.

Under this policy, modeled after a state program not yet adopted, projects of 20 or more units in subdivisions, conditional-use and residential-planned communities would receive points for meeting certain green building and development criteria.
Councilman Dale Dukes said with the upcoming change in state administration, it’s hard to tell when the state program will be up and running. “We need to develop our own program and go on,” he said.

Those criteria would include larger buffers than required by the county, additional open space, using solar energy for street lighting, reusing existing historical buildings, dedicating land for public use and building homes that meet established standards for energy efficiency and green building.

County Administrator David Baker said the county’s pilot program differs from the state’s program because it offers three levels of recognition, while the state offers only one level.

“Not every project is going to measure up to the high bar being considered at the state level,” Baker said. “But by offering some recognition and incentives at a less stringent level, we believe we can encourage more environmentally friendly building throughout the county.”

Based on a scale of points, developers attaining the first level in the program would receive a green certificate and at the second level, an expedited county review. At the third level, Super Green, developers would receive expedited county and state reviews.

County officials would require developers to put up performance bonds to ensure construction is completed, and they could withhold certificates of occupancy or levy fines if work is not finished. The county’s green development program will be implemented on a trial basis until it takes effect July 1, 2009.