Developers who meet certain environmental criteria—creating so-called "green" buildings—will get extra concessions from the city, primarily in the form of greater floor space allowed on a given lot of land. The policy is to encourage the practice in any new construction, remodeling or maintenance of buildings.

To earn extra space for a building, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program must certify a project. To get LEED certification, a project must earn a number of points for addressing issues like water-saving irrigation techniques, use of locally produced or recycled materials and access for alternative modes of transportation, including public transportation and bicycles.

City Planning Commissioner Chuck Hungerford said that Sunnyvale is a pioneer in the idea of offering incentives for green construction, rather than imposing green requirements on all projects.

"Instead of using a stick, we're using a carrot," Hungerford said at the Jan. 26 commission meeting.

While the motion was passed unanimously, Vice Chairman Christopher Moylan suggested future actions that would create a sliding scale of FAR (floor to area ratio) increases, to provide for projects without the means of getting full LEED certification. This way, any contribution to a more environmentally efficient Sunnyvale is rewarded with some sort of incentive.

"What we do here is going to help protect the city against the rolling blackouts and garbage barges of the future," Moylan said.