Development projects funded through the city of Pittsburgh would have a green string attached under new rules that got their first approval from council yesterday.

If developers want tax-increment financing subsidies -- the most potent form of city aid -- they would have to meet environmental standards.

Once a leader in green building, Pittsburgh is playing catch-up with the new rules, said Councilman William Peduto, who authored the legislation.

"We certainly aren't going ahead of the rest of the country," he said. Some cities "are creating green standards for every new building" regardless of whether there's a public subsidy.

The General Assembly, meanwhile, is considering its own environmental rules for large construction backed by state aid.

"These investments are going to pay off in the long run through lower energy costs," and through growth in the state's green technology industry, said state Rep. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon. "These buildings are healthier for the workers or students who occupy them."

The city ordinance would demand that any TIF-backed building meets the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver standard.

LEED ratings are granted by consultants on a 100-point scale based on site location, access to public transit, energy and water use, recycled materials and indoor environmental quality.

LEED certified is the lowest rating, followed by silver, gold and platinum.

If a developer took a TIF, and then failed to get the silver rating, it would be fined 1 percent of construction costs. "You want to have some teeth," said Holly Childs, executive director of the Green Building Alliance.

The city also must practice what it preaches, getting LEED silver ratings for any new municipal buildings of more than 5,000 square feet or $2 million cost.

Final council approval could come Tuesday.

The city already has rules that allow developers to build larger buildings if they are green. Ms. Childs said 186 municipalities have legislation encouraging or requiring environmentally friendly development.

Baltimore, Minneapolis, Miami-Dade County and others have approaches similar to that proposed for Pittsburgh. Los Angeles is among cities that expedite permitting, water and electrical approvals for green construction.

A few cities, including Boston and several California towns, require that all large developments go green.

Mr. Smith's legislation, which already has passed the House, would tie large-scale state help, including the much-used Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, to a set of standards now being developed by the state Department of General Services and Department of Environmental Protection.

Mr. Smith said he has no problem with cities developing their own standards. A developer who wants both city and state aid would have to meet the stronger of the two requirements, he said.

That's all right with Todd Reidbord, whose Walnut Capital Management is building the LEED-rated, TIF-backed, state-aided Bakery Square complex in Larimer.

"If you know what [the environmental requirement] is up front, and you know what you're supposed to do and you plan accordingly, you can make a decision on what's a viable alternative," he said. "I think green building is where everyone is heading."