Sustainable building policies establish minimum sustainability criteria that go beyond existing state code for new construction or significantly renovated developments.

The Edina policy reads: New Construction or Major Renovations to which this policy applies are required to be certified under an eligible Sustainable Building Rating System at the listed rating level and must meet the standards set forth in the Edina Overlay.

A policy of this kind will affect roughly two-thirds of large building proposals in Edina each year. Large buildings are the greatest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in Edina; adopting a policy that affects new construction will complement existing Edina programs such as the Large Building Benchmarking ordinance to achieve greater building efficiency and the City's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.