Consider what you would do if the following scenarios happend in your jurisdiction…
- As a newly elected mayor, you have the mandate to adopt a community-wide green building code,
- Due to budget cuts, your position as a building official has been combined with that of a sustainability coordinator,
- Your township has adopted a goal of reducing water usage by 20% and energy by 30%,
- A consultant has developed a detailed beyond-code program for your community, and it’s 24 pages long!
Staff and policy makers across the country are looking for ways to successfully adopt and implement sustainability measures that include new green building codes and beyond-code programs. The good news is that there are resources and options you can consider for your jurisdiction. The bad news? Resources are vast and the options are many! Never before have so many programs, studies, analyses, and data been available on this topic.
No longer do jurisdictions need to develop local programs from the ground up. As regional and national beyond-code programs become more common, these programs are providing peer-vetted tools for guiding construction and development that are less impactful and more sustainable.
Regional codes have been used extensively throughout California and the Mid-Atlantic Region. The first national comprehensive residential beyond-code program, the ICC-700, is not written in codified language. It can easily be adopted by ordinance, just as ENERGY STAR has been adopted in New York municipalities. In addition to ASHRAE 189.1, the nation’s first commercial green building standard, several jurisdictions have also adopted the International Green Construction Code. Each of these standards is written so that it can be codified and enforced at the local level, similar to other building codes.
Voluntary third-party green building rating systems, such as LEED, are also an option and provide yet another tool for jurisdictions. A number of federal agencies, including DOE, have adopted LEED as a path to meet federal requirements, and it is becoming one of the key benchmarks by which other codes and programs are compared.
Other Scenarios
Then there are issues such as drought-resistant turf replacement to reduce irrigation water use, or a community’s use of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manger. The list of questions facing jurisdictions goes on.
States and local agencies need independent and unbiased support in order to adopt and implement green building code programs. It is helpful when anyone involved has extensive experience in addressing policy issues, water conservation, materials and resources, indoor air quality, siting, and building energy efficiency. This sort of expertise gives jurisdictions the ability to determine:
- which code is best suited to the communities’ goals and needs,
- how can we effectively work with stakeholders and other keys to a successful program,
- appropriate amendments, if necessary,
- integration across jurisdiction functionalities, such as planning, engineering, and building departments,
- general plan and zoning interfaces,
- opportunities for third-party verification,
- compliance and enforcement techniques.
Please access Technical Assistance Services through the Solution Center for comprehensive, interdisciplinary assistance targeted to meet the individual needs of states and jurisdictions. Experienced staff will help you find the resources you are looking for, or provide the guidance you need. Send us your questions, needs, comments, and feedback!
Content for this Blog post courtesy of Michelle Britt, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory