Columbia Green Building Standards and Incentives

Most new development with a gross floor area of 5,000 square feet or more in the City of Columbia must either achieve LEED Gold certification or comply with the city’s green building standards. To comply with the standards, developers can select from a menu of green building options to meet a required point threshold. Options include, among others, installing cool roofs or green roofs, limiting turf grass in favor of other types of ground cover, providing community garden space, and more.

Columbia’s code further provides that developers that voluntarily choose to incorporate additional green building features can access density bonuses, height bonuses, increased allowable lot coverage, and reductions in the minimum parking required for a site.