The City of Miami requires that all new private developments over 50,000 square feet located in specified zoning districts (T5, T6, CI and CS zones) to achieve LEED silver certification or an equivalent standards adopted or approved by the City.

The City of Atlanta offers developers expediting permitting and an additionally height bonus for meeting a variety of criteria. The criteria is divided two categories: Green Development and Plaza Areas.

1. Green Development
1. To qualify for the green development incentives, such development shall:
   
• Be in excess of 100,000 square feet of floor area;
  
• Utilize non-potable water sources for 100 percent of all outdoor water use;
  
• Provide verification of an Analysis of the City Energy Code that demonstrates ten percent reduction of energy use, in comparison to the City Energy Code requirements;
  
• Provide open space at least ten percent above open space

The City of Memphis' Payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program offers longer tax abatement periods (15 years) for projects involving new construction or significant renovations that achieve LEED or Net Zero Certification. In order to qualify, projects must be located in Memphis Central Business Improvement District. Projects must meet three of the following criteria:

• Project includes the redevelopment of a property certified as blighted by DMC staff

• Project includes the adaptive reuse of an existing building
• Project will Infill a vacant lot or surface parking lot in the Downtown Core (must be condition prior to
  acquisition)
• Project includes the renovation of a contributing

The City of Boston requires that all new large developments (50,000 square feet and above) to adhere to the Green Building and Climate Resiliency Guidelines. Under these guidelines, developers must achieve LEED certification, complete a carbon-neutral building assessment, and a climate resiliency checklist

Ordinance No. 2009-211 established the Sustainable Building Certification Grant Program to encourage the attainment of sustainable building certification.  A temporary source of funds shall be used to reimburse developers for the actual costs of specific steps of the sustainable building certification process. This includes fees for application and inspection, but excludes any construction costs necessary to achieve sustainable building certification. The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Board. Grants shall be limited to $1,000 per certification.

The City of Jacksonville offers expedited building plan review for projects achieving LEED certification. This program is available for new residential or commercial construction, residential or commercial retrofitting/remodeling and new City-owned buildings.

Owners or developers of sustainable building program projects may receive a refund of the actual costs of sustainable building certification pursuant to the Sustainable Building Certification Refund Grant Program administered through the Environmental Protection Board.

For more information, contact (904) 255-8310 or ECavin@coj.net

S.B. 802 of 2024 authorized the establishment of a statewide Commercial Property Assessed Capital Expenditure (C-PACE) program that local governments may voluntarily join. Eligible properties include commercial, industrial, agricultural, nonprofit, and multifamily residential properties with five or more dwelling units. The bill establishes the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina as the statewide administrator for the program and assigns a variety of tasks to it: 

• Prepare a C-PACE toolkit, as described in S.B. 802, in consultation with stakeholders and local governments
• Impose fees to offset the actual and reasonable costs of administering the C-PACE Program, including an application fee not

The City of San Antonio's Under 1 Roof program provides eligible homeowners with funding opportunities to assist in the replacement of worn and damaged shingles with new, energy-efficient white shingle roofs and solar underlayment. The program provides a one-time grant and the City of San Antonio will place a restrictive covenant on the property requiring homeowners to maintain ownership and occupancy for five years after project completion.

Homes larger than 1,700 sq. ft. are subject to approval based on cost assessment and needs of the home. Metal roofs, gravel roofs, clay tiles and wood shingles are subject to additional review

Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing effectively allows property owners to borrow money to pay for energy improvements. The amount borrowed is typically repaid via a special assessment on the property over a period of years. In 2021, S.B. 147 authorized the creation of a Commercial PACE (C-PACE) program to be administered by the Montana Facility Finance Authority (MFFA). To be eligible, properties must be located in a Montana city, county, town, or a consolidated city-town that has or will establish a C-PACE District. C-PACE District designation is tracked by the MFFA and may be viewed here.

The C-PACE program

On November 28, 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 5120 (PA 233 of 2023) which provides siting authority to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) for utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage facilities under specified conditions. The MPSC has engagement sessions scheduled that are open to the public to gather input on the implementation of PA 233.

What facilities are covered by PA 233?

• The siting process created in PA 233 applies to
• Solar facilities with a nameplate capacity of 50 MW or more,

• Wind facilities with a nameplate capacity of 100 MW or more, and

• Energy storage facilities