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A new green-building incentive program called Guide2Green will provide prioritized plan reviews and inspections, one-day permits and reduced system development charges for potential LEED and Earth Advantage commercial projects within the city of Eugene.

Residential projects also will be eligible for permit fee rebates, which would be issued following certification.

鈥淔or LEED projects, the builder has to register the project and have a registration number in order to qualify,鈥� said Jenna Garmon, green building analyst with the city of Eugene. 鈥淲e have a local entity that certifies for Earth Advantage, so for that we will make sure the applicant is working with them toward certification.鈥�

Other services provided by the program include technical assistance and publicity of the projects.

Garmon said the city chose to offer assistance to builders pursuing LEED and Earth Advantage certification because both programs address a range of green building issues.

鈥淟EED for commercial seems to have the most traction and is the most widely used rating system,鈥� Garmon said. 鈥淓arth Advantage was chosen because we have a local certifier here, and we feel that resource is important for local builders. If we had a Living Building project approach us, it would qualify as well.鈥�

Projects that are being built to LEED or Earth Advantage standards but are not pursuing certification will still receive technical assistance from the program, but would not qualify for the other incentives.

鈥淲e want to rely on third-party certification for this incentive package,鈥� Garmon said. 鈥淎ny project wanting to incorporate green strategies, we want to support.鈥�

Money for the rebates is being partially provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant.