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County adopts voluntary Green Los Alamos business certification; council debates incentives and tenant/landlord limits
Summary
Los Alamos County council voted 5‑1 to support a voluntary three‑tier Green Los Alamos certification for businesses covering energy, water, waste, operations and transportation; proponents said the self‑certification reduces administrative burden, while some councilors wanted clearer incentives and more direct business demand evidence.
Los Alamos County adopted a voluntary Green Los Alamos business certification program on Dec. 16 after a presentation from county staff. The program is a self‑certification checklist with three recognition tiers (bronze, silver, gold) across five topic areas—energy, water, waste, operational sustainability and transportation—and is designed to be a low‑burden online process.
Ms. Hayward, who led the presentation, said the program is free, voluntary and aimed at consolidating existing resources for businesses to improve efficiency and document efforts. She said the checklist was derived from established resources such as DOE and ENERGY STAR materials and that the initial rollout would emphasize outreach to business groups and partner organizations.
Councilors raised questions about whether tenants without landlord cooperation could meaningfully achieve higher tiers, what incentives (if any) would be available and whether local businesses had explicitly requested the program. Hayward and other staff said the checklist includes tenant‑appropriate items (24 tenant‑achievable metrics) so many businesses can reach a bronze level without landlord alterations, and said the county will explore incentives later as partners and demand develop.
Public comment at the meeting included a former Zero Waste volunteer (online) who said businesses asked for recycling and composting help in earlier outreach, and Sandy Jones, director of the Chamber of Commerce, who said national polling shows sustainability influences younger consumers and that recognizing business efforts may be valuable locally.
Council voted 5‑1 to support the program; Councilor Regor was the lone vote against, expressing concern that there was no visible business turnout at the meeting and urging more direct industry input before formal adoption.
What's next: staff plan a soft launch in January with outreach materials and an online form; the county will host the application on Cognito and provide informational materials and optional walkthroughs. Incentives such as permit discounts were discussed as possible future options but not committed.
