FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Star Community Index to Help Local Governments Measure, Benchmark “Green” Status

Contact: Annie Strickler, ICLEI – 510.844.0699 x328 annie.strickler@iclei.org
             John Neurohr, CAP – 202-682-1611 x182 jneurohr@americanprogress.org
             Taryn Holowka, USGBC – 202-828-1144 tholowka@usgbc.org

Chicago, IL – Starting in 2008, local governments will have a new, tool to help them   plan, track and measure their sustainability programs holistically, and at the community scale. The Star Community Index, announced at the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Greenbuild conference, will be developed by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability in partnership with USGBC and the Center for American Progress (CAP). More information is available at www.icleiusa.org or by emailing starcommunity@iclei.org.

Communities from big cities to small towns are embracing sustainability, and are greening every aspect of their operations – from city fleets to city buildings,” said Michelle Wyman, Executive Director of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. “Our members are thousands of local governments, and they need better tools – not only to benchmark their work against their peers, but also to make their greatest successes replicable in other communities. That’s what the Star Community Index will do.”

To be developed through a consensus process, the Star Community Index will serve cities who are already demonstrating progress in their sustainability initiatives with the goal of establishing shared measures and processes for greening communities. ICLEI is currently seeking additional partners in the effort.

“Measuring sustainability on a city-wide scale is the next big step,” said Jason Hartke, USGBC’s Director of Advocacy. “By using a shared yardstick across a broad range of initiatives, cities will be able to demonstrate immediate and measurable results in the fight against climate change.”

The Star framework will represent a roadmap that guides local governments as they implement sustainability and climate actions.  Inspired by USGBC’s LEED® Green Building Rating System™, Star will include tiered levels with classification based on actions achieved consistent with a given level. Star will also draw on the extensive experience of ICLEI in building online tools and tracking systems to assess the progress of cities in reducing carbon emissions, and CAP’s work on policies that link economic development to environmental protection.

“Building green communities that cut carbon emissions and help solve global warming, even as they create good green collar jobs, is the future for America’s cities,” said Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow of the Center for American Progress. “But local leaders need real tools to prove that they are making progress.  As hundreds of mayors have signed on to meet climate goals, the Star Community Index will help them to cut emissions and measure performance, and it will help make green cities a reality.”

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