Green cred

Los Angeles and San Francisco are moving to adopt laws to cut pollution from buildings. Both plans use the nationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scale, which awards points for efficiency, materials and indoor air quality. Ratings range from LEED to LEED silver, gold and platinum. For residential buildings, San Francisco uses a similar system called GreenPoint.

PROPOSALS

New commercial buildings

* Los Angeles: must meet LEED standard if over 50,000 square feet

* San Francisco: must meet LEED gold standard if over 25,000 square feet

New high-rise residential buildings

* Los Angeles: must meet LEED standard if over 50,000 square feet and six stories high

* San Francisco: must meet LEED silver standard if over 75 feet tall

New low-rise residential and single-family units

* Los Angeles: must meet LEED standard for developments of 50 units or more

* San Francisco: all buildings must be GreenPoint rated

Major renovations

* Los Angeles: must meet LEED standard in buildings over 50,000 square feet

* San Francisco: must meet LEED silver standard in residential buildings over 25,000 square feet; must meet LEED gold standard in commercial buildings over 25,000 square feet

Greenhouse gases avoided annually (by 2012)

* Los Angeles: 83,000 metric tons or 0.02 metric ton per capita

* San Francisco: 60,000 metric tons or 0.08 metric ton per capita

Sources: Los Angeles Planning Department;

San Francisco Department of the Environment