A consortium of North Carolina municipal and county government agencies tapped some four dozen local building professionals to develop green building guidelines for the state's Region J, consisting of Orange, Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, and Wake counties. Even though the guidelines are geared toward public buildings, more than half of the committee members were from the private sector. The group also devised a rating system to compare the energy efficiency of government buildings. There are some private developers that understand the marketing potential for leasing developed space with sustainable guidelines.
Planners now review development proposals jointly rather than separately.
They often make group field visits to development sites and write group reports addressing a development's environmental impacts. Instead of mailing the report to developers, they meet with developers to discuss ways to correct problems such as proposed housing lots that are too close to stream banks or proposed streets that cross flood plains. Kevin Rogers of Oak Hill Properties says the new approach makes him feel less like the county is dictating changes and more like it is inviting him to share in decisions that could affect his company's bottom line. The reviews are not enforceable, however. Some local citizen watchdogs express concern that the new approach won't change anything.