Chamblee City Councilman Mark Wedge thinks it's "time for the South to get with it" and join the likes of Boston and Washington in battling global warming.

On Tuesday, the Chamblee council approved Wedge's proposal to make the DeKalb County city the first in Georgia to make major developers "go green."

The new ordinance requires big commercial developments in Chamblee to meet a higher standard in cutting energy and water use and to improve indoor environmental quality.

All public and private construction over 20,000 square feet must add a variety of green building practices into their projects. That includes everything from using recycled materials to installing low-flow toilets to using natural light in the design of interiors.

"We have a bad drought going on, and we can see up close what we're doing to the environment," Wedge said.

The ordinance takes effect on April 1 next year.

Atlanta, too, has a green-friendly ordinance, requiring since 2003 that city-funded projects be built on higher environmental standards. But Atlanta's rule does not cover private development as Chamblee's ordinance does.

Going green isn't cheap. Meeting the benchmarks to receive accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council, the nonprofit that created and oversees the standards for sustainable building, can cost about 6 percent more than traditional construction.

Supporters argue that developers recoup those costs in about four years because of energy savings.

Major developers in Chamblee have thrown their support to the ordinance, in part because of other economic considerations by being on the cutting edge of a new trend.

"There is always some reference now to being green," said Chuck Schmandt, who plans to incorporate the practices into his International Village project next to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, even though his development breaks ground well ahead of the requirements. "It is good business."

The Georgia Municipal Association has heard from several cities interested in green building practices, said spokeswoman Amy Henderson. Chamblee's ordinance could well become a template for the other cities eyeing the standards.

"This would turn them into the place to go to for questions," Henderson said.