If you want your company to be in on one of the hottest green trends for 2010 and beyond, take a close look at green buildings.

The federal, state and local governments are all investing time, money, energy and regulations to promote green building standards to make new and existing buildings more energy efficient.

Reason: Buildings consume huge amounts of power that take a huge bite out of  municipal budgets, so governments are hungry for ways to cut costs. Interest in green building standards, such as those created by the U.S. Green Building Council, is exploding because buildings consume more energy than any other part of the U.S. economy.

Plus, by cutting electricity bills, governments will reduce their carbon footprint by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. So it’s a win/win for them.

The latest action comes from the National Governors Association, which will develop comprehensive action plans for building managers to become more energy efficient. The six states participating in the NGA program are: Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.

Plus, this green building effort targets existing buildings, so companies don’t have to just plan new construction to take advantage of the energy conservation techniques that will be developed.

The NGA program will address many standard energy efficiency improvements, such as upgrading:

• insulation
• heating and hot water systems
• lighting
• windows and appliances, and
• energy management systems.

The funding for the project comes from the Department of Energy.

Tags: energy efficiency, insulation, lighting, National Governors Association, U.S. Green Building Council