Green buildings need more incentives in U.S.

By Nick Carey and Ilaina Jonas

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it opens next year, the 54-story Bank of America Tower in New York will be the most environmentally friendly office building in the United States.

It will produce most of its energy at an on-site cogeneration plant. It will capture and reuse waste water and rainwater. And it uses recycled materials in its construction.

The building is the latest in a trend toward office buildings that use less energy and cause less global warming. But developers say that trend is being held back by insufficient government support.

Seventeen U.S. states and 59 cities including New York and Chicago offer incentives for green buildings or require certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

That, and demand from tenants, has led to a boom in green buildings, said Rick Fedrizzi, founder of the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit group that issues the LEED certification.

Five years ago, it was hard to get developers to focus on environmentally friendly building. "Now, I get three calls a day from CFOs asking about what we do," Fedrizzi said. The council's green building rating system has gone from relative obscurity to a mark of prestige.

The Bank of America building in Midtown Manhattan, with 2.1 million square feet and six trading floors, will be the first building to earn a platinum LEED certificate, the council's highest.

But without $650 million in bonds intended to rebuild Lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11, 2001, it may not have been built.

Jeffrey Schwartz, chief executive of ProLogis -- the world's largest developer, said the U.S. government is not doing enough to help green buildings.

"It's not cost efficient without (government) sponsorship today," Schwartz said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency argues that federal tax breaks of up to $1.80 per square foot and programs to promote energy conservation provide enough support.

"This is often not a cost-efficient process," said Herb Hauser, a consultant at Midtown Technologies. "More financial incentives would help."

Hauser is working on the $1.5 billion Steel Point mixed-use development in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that will generate 15 percent of its own power using wind, water and solar energy.

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Green projects have grown rapidly in recent years. The U.S. Green Building Council has issued 546 LEED certificates covering 59 million square feet, up from 38 covering 5 million square feet in 2002.