Pohanka struggling to meet Fairfaxs stringent green-building rules

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Pohanka struggling to meet Fairfaxs stringent green-building rules

Posted on03 March 2012.

Not good enough, Fairfax County planners said. The Department of Planning and Zoningrecommended denial of the land-use application because Pohanka refused to submit to a national process for certifying green buildings. The Planning Commission endorsed …
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One Response to “Pohanka struggling to meet Fairfaxs stringent green-building rules”

Geoff Pohanka says:

March 6, 2012 at 5:08 pm

The Fairfax Country planning board voted unanimously to support the Pohanka development plan, and on four separate votes, were unanimous in all the requests that Pohanka put forth. Since the planning board meeting, the Fairfax County planning staff has reversed their position and now is in full support of the Pohanka project.

The problem is that the planning board made a zoning ordnance that required either LEED certification, or some other, third party certification. The planning staff was put in a dilemma, since there is no other third party certification available.

At the hearing, the Board made it clear to the staff that it was not their intention to require all buildings be LEED certified. The Board was satisfied with the Pohanka development, since there were 50 energy saving features designed into the building that are not ordinarily required. The staff said that the Pohanka building, would be the most energy efficient car dealership ever constructed within Fairfax County, and that Pohanka had made great effort to satisfy most of the staff’s recommendations.