San Francisco city will very soon boast the greenest buildings in America. The local government last week took a critical step which is considered to be the toughest environmental construction standards in the United States. Now companies and families who are planning to build houses and offices might be required to earn green points by introducing water and energy saving measures.

For example, existing technologies such as solar water heating can cut greenhouse emissions from a building by one-third.) Failing to earn green points, they will risk losing their construction permits. Today construction is not pretty area of climate policy, but it is an area where huge gains can be made for relatively at little expenditure. Yet authorities are regulating the housing booms in places like the south west of America and there are so many cities that have done little to promote such measures.