Can urban centers with economic challenges successfully pursue green building without impinging on housing needed by moderate income residents?

Much like debates about the impact of more stringent environmental standards on blue collar jobs (think - the auto industry), green building is now becoming a controversial topic in cities with a substantial number of moderate and lower income residents. Mayor Frank Jackson comes from the single poorest neighborhood in Cleveland - not to mention Ohio. He also sees sustainability as crucial to the city’s future, and is introducing a host of new measures to require developers to incorporate green building techniques in their projects if they wish to receive the loans, tax breaks and other financial perks the city already provides. Developers, already faced with a very depressed real estate market and huge numbers of home foreclosures in Greater Cleveland, are publicly airing their concerns that these requirements will add costs to moderate income home development and thereby limit opportunities for housing for the poor.