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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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House ok's green building amendment

Small business loans would be available for sustainable building designs

25 April 2007

Under a measure authored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) that was approved unanimously in the House, small businesses across the nation could apply for loans to reduce the environmental impact of their operations.

This year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) will guarantee $7.5 billion in long-term, fixed-rate financing to small businesses to acquire land, structures, machinery, and equipment under the Certified Development Company, or Section 504, Loan Program. It selects companies to support based on goals, such as promoting rural development and revitalizing business districts. Inslee's amendment would add access to sustainable and low-impact building design to the goals of this program.

"Buildings account for more than a third of the greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States," said Inslee, who recently visited the Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream factory, a sustainable commercial project in his congressional district. "We not only can cut this number significantly, but we also can improve efficiency and productivity of small businesses."

Whole building design practices, also known as green buildings, include but aren't limited to vegetated roof systems, on-site renewable energy, natural ventilation and natural lighting. They typically increase upfront design costs of buildings by two percent, but can decrease long-term costs by 20 percent or more, according to a report on the green building movement in the publication "Building Design and Construction."

Eco-friendly designs, like maximizing the use of natural light to illuminate buildings, have been shown to increase worker productivity up to 16 percent in various case studies. Small business loans currently can help a company upgrade to required environmental standards, but very few have helped owners choose green standards in the early stages of building design, when they can be most cost effective.

Inslee's provision amended H.R. 1332, the Small Business Lending Improvements Act, which aims to strengthen access to capital programs for U.S. small businesses. The underlying bill passed on the House floor shortly after 6 p.m. EDT by a margin of 380 to 45.

A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Inslee is a leading voice in Congress on environmental issues.

Click here to read Inslee's amendment.