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Some jurisdictions in the United States have enacted green building policies and incentives that use a building assessment system to rate their sustainability. One such system is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Using data from a survey of LEED policy administrators and a comparison of LEED policies, this research seeks to understand the status and structure of such policies, their impacts on the built environment, how they work in practice, and the role of planners. The article outlines three types of policies that use the LEED systemgovernment requirements, requirements for private development, and incentivesand finds that LEED policies have been very narrowly applied. Planners have an important role in administering green building polices because they address issues beyond building design and construction and require a holistic and integrative perspective.

The purpose of this article is to provide planners with an introduction to the concept of green buildings and building assessment systems and to identify and explore the major themes in the literature as they relate to planning. Six themes are identified: scope, weighting, subjectivity, rigor, adaptation, and life cycle analysis. Planners have begun to develop and implement green building policies and programs, although there is much room for expansion of the role of planning in green building issues. The article concludes by outlining a broad research agenda that can help move the discussion of the role of planning in green building issues forward. Planning needs to take a more assertive role in green buildings to add more comprehensiveness to the issue.

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Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a tool for managing and improving marine environments. The field is dominated by natural scientists and has not been commonly associated with planning. This research analyzes the MSP literature to explore how planners can contribute to MSP research and practice. We organize the literature into eight themes, focusing on how planners may be able to contribute to MSP research and practice: ocean zoning, defining boundaries, planning in dynamic environments, stakeholder involvement, information needs, integrating ocean and land-use management, managing multiple and conflicting uses, and transboundary institutional structures. We conclude that planners have a lot to contribute in these eight areas.