Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto is proposing legislation today that would require that all new or newly renovated city facilities, and all development backed by tax-increment financing, to meet environmental friendliness standards.

Mr. Peduto's legislation would have the buildings attain Silver certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, program of the U.S. Green Building Council.

"I want to put together an entire green agenda for Pittsburgh so that our city is known as one of the leading examples of sustainable development," he said.

Buildings can achieve different levels of LEED certification, including platinum, gold, silver and lower rankings. The level of certification depends on factors including how materials from any pre-existing structure are disposed of, energy efficiency and use of non-toxic building materials.

"Silver is the common threshhold in other cities," said Mr. Peduto, adding that he based his legislation on Atlanta's green building requirement. Some federal departments and a few states have green building requirements, he said.

Cities nationwide have tried different approaches to encouraging "green" building. Some provide tax breaks, others make it a requirement for certain kinds of subsidies, and a few have begun requiring LEED certification for all large developments.

Council is to vote today on another piece of legislation written by Mr. Peduto that would allow LEED-certified buildings to be as much as 20 percent larger than other structures in their zoning districts.

In tax-increment financing, government borrows money to aid a development, and pays off the debt using new tax dollars created by the new building over the course of as long as 20 years.

"I envision that this will be the first of several pieces of TIF reform I'll be introducing," said Mr. Peduto.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.