Best Policy Practices

Best Policy Practices
Applying voluntary consensus standards
United States
The text refers to certification systems;
if you want to learn more, please click
www.usgbc.org/LEED/ or see also
Chapter 10 in this publication.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
(NTTAA) requires Federal agencies to “use technical standards
that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus
standards bodies” in both their procurement and rulemaking
unless such use is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. In cases where no voluntary consensus
standards exist, agencies can also use other technical standards.
There was great wisdom in the NTTAA. Consumers benefit
from standards in that they provide confidence in the quality,
safety, and reliability of a product or service. Businesses
benefit from standards in that they reduce cost, provide interoperability,
promote regulatory compliance, reduce liability exposure,
and provide organizations with a competitive advan-
tage. Governments benefit from standards in that they achieve
public policy objectives for a host of environmental concerns,
lower regulatory and procurement costs, promote exports,
trade, and economic growth, and comply with the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
Green building standards are at the forefront of environmental
preferability standards in many ways: taking a holistic,
systems approach; pushing the science of life cycle assessment;
asking the tough questions about chemicals of concern;
and balancing environmental, economic, and social considerations.
And, the leaders in developing green building standards
are engaging stakeholders in a very open, transparent process.
These standard methodologies, rating systems, and other
metrics provide a larger framework in which to organize and
implement green programs at the national level. The use of
green building standards fits well in the government context,
considering the Federal government’s massive size, hierarchical
structure, and typical way of doing business. The use of
green building standards will also make the job of implementation
easier, reducing the duplication of background research
by the many parties working on green building, and giving an
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