Bloomington, IN Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification process to advance environmental, economic and social stewardship and cut city operating costs. 030(a), every new occupiable City of Bloomington building, meaning one owned by the Board of Parks Commissioners, Board of Public Works, City Utilities Department, Redevelopment Commission or the Bloomington Municipal Facilities Corporation, must be designed, contracted and built to achieve LEED-NC Silver certification at minimum, and the city is directed to strive for Gold or Platinum where resources permit. 020 as work affecting more than 50 percent of a building's floor area, an addition increasing floor area by more than 50 percent, relocation of more than half the regular occupants, or replacement of the HVAC system.

Other renovations are to aim for LEED-EB:O&M Silver where resources permit. 040 required the city to inventory and evaluate existing and subsequently-acquired buildings in two phases, with Phase II analysis of building envelope, HVAC, lighting and interior finish systems due for all existing buildings by December 31, 2020, and pursuit of LEED Silver capped at a payback period of no more than 10 years; anything longer sends the decision on which certification level, if any, is appropriate to the board with authority over the project.

Buildings whose 10-year payback pencils out were to be registered with the USGBC and brought to certification by December 31, 2022, subject to available funds. 050 exempts industrial buildings with limited or no office space, seasonal-use space, space without HVAC, conditioned storage and fire stations, and allows the Common Council to grant a waiver where compliance would defeat the program's intent or create an unreasonable burden. 070 makes clear these mandates apply only to city buildings; private development is merely encouraged, through the Green and Sustainable Development Incentives in the Unified Development Ordinance, to use green building strategies.