A colleague recently referred to all those “other” chapters in a green building code as “the Green Stuff.” However, those of us old enough to remember the popularity of words such as ecology and conservation will recall that a building’s energy efficiency was once considered only part of the overall answer to conservation. 

Beginning in the 1970s and continuing into the 1980s, energy efficiency was commonly viewed as a function of not just the building, but also situation, orientation, shading, and the general neighborhood layout. Communities took a comprehensive approach to conservation – they revised general plans and zoning ordinances to accommodate new conservation goals. They adopted solar access requirements, allowing for features such as solar panels and clotheslines. They discussed other factors, including the heat-island effect of wide roads and hardscape, while designing paths for foot and bike traffic to connect the community.

Then, with the advent of Title 24 in California and the national Model Energy Code that was widely adopted in the 1990s, energy efficiency became codified in a new way. Energy conservation began to focus primarily on each building’s energy efficiency. Building energy codes, such as the IECC and ASHRAE 90.1, have been relatively successful in transforming building energy efficiency, but conservation and sustainability outside the building shell has landed on the back burner in many communities.

Today the new green building arsenal of programs, codes, and standards provides communities with useful strategies for saving energy. Each measure helps guide growth, development, and construction in a sustainable, energy-efficient, and less-impactful manner. As regional and national green building codes and programs become more widespread, they provide peer-vetted processes, eliminating the time-consuming effort required to locally develop and maintain codes.

Jurisdictions considering green codes face two key challenges: how they can best work within existing codes and community regulations, and how these codes and regulations will be enforced. The term “building code” has led some to wrongly believe these requirements are the sole responsibility of the building department, when in actuality, planning, engineering, and other departments play key roles in cooperatively implementing and enforcing any new codes and standards.

A host of jurisdictions have demonstrated that these challenges can be overcome and that it is possible to adopt and enforce green-building codes. Southwest Energy Efficiency Project offers informational Resources for State and Local Governments that illustrate some of the keys to successful programs throughout their five-state region. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency has developed a Toolkit to Help Local Governments Evaluate Existing Design and Building Practices, information that can be applied to create more sustainable communities. And nonprofit organizations such as Smart Growth can also assist municipalities with comprehensive planning and development strategies.

Energy-efficient construction is, without question, a key component of community-wide sustainability, but comprehensive measures beyond the building shell can further reduce heating and cooling loads on buildings. These measures can also minimize impacts on resources and improve community-wide livability.

Content for this Blog post courtesy of Michelle Britt, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory