(Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection)

The Housing Cabinet headed by Finance Minister Yair Lapid has approved a proposal made by Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz to promote green ​building in Israel. In accordance with the plan, all sorts of real estate-related professionals will be trained in the field of green building: planners, architects, construction engineers, contractors, standards examiners, and others. (At present, there is a shortage of professionals with knowledge about green building in Israel.) The NIS 32 million plan would include a NIS 30 million investment from the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP) and NIS 2 million from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources over the next three years.

Other steps to be taken:

• A system for establishing energy ratings for buildings will be established. This way, any person who wishes to purchase a home, building or office, can understand in advance how much energy the building consumes, just as a buyer has that information about any electrical appliance purchased today.
• A green building knowledge center will be established by the MoEP. This is necessary because there is no central place to find information about green building in Israel. The center will evaluate, among other things, rental and sales prices for building that adhere to green building standards, insurance values​​, purchase prices, differences in the value of a green building and a non-green building, consumption costs of a green building, and more.
  

Living in a green building can save a family some NIS 1,700 per year, and prevents residents' exposure to toxic materials and gases. A school built to green standards will see an annual savings of about NIS 74,000 and an office can save up to NIS 20,000 a year. These figures do not include the financial benefits of fewer employees getting sick and calling in sick, decreased electricity costs, as well as the societal benefits of avoiding the construction of an additional power plant.