Jersey City, NJ Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

Chapter 180, adopted January 28, 2009 by Ord. Nos. 09-001 and 09-002, applies LEED to the City's own building stock rather than to private development citywide. Section 180-1 defines a 'Municipal Project' as new construction or renovation of a City-owned building, or a building more than 50% City-funded, where the cost meets or exceeds $1,000,000 (indexed for inflation via the Construction Consumer Price Index). Section 180-2 sets the LEED®-NC Silver Rating as the minimum standard for each Municipal Project, with a LEED Accredited Professional required to certify that the project achieved it, and requires all such projects to also earn the EPA's ENERGY STAR Building Label; specifications for any project requiring public bidding under the Local Public Contracts Law must be modified to require both.

The Chief Architect reviews cost impact, and where compliance would add more than 20% to the project's cost, the Business Administrator may waive the Silver Rating or ENERGY STAR requirement, dropping the floor to a LEED-NC Certified Rating instead of eliminating it outright. Section 180-3 extends the program to existing municipal buildings, setting LEED-EB Silver as the minimum, waivable by the Business Administrator where compliance costs exceed 1% of the building's market value or $20,000, or where compliance would be impracticable or compromise public health or safety; historic buildings are exempt from § 180-3 entirely, though the section encourages green strategies for them anyway.

Section 180-4 makes LEED voluntary, not mandatory, for private development, it offers expedited plan review and a building-permit and land-development fee refund (10% for Certified up to 25% for Platinum) to private applicants who choose to certify, rather than requiring it.