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-sit 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.