Public Version 1.0 of the International Green Construction Code was publicly released in Washington, D.C. on March 15th, 2010. Since our last update at the end of 2009, the International Code Council along with its Cooperating Sponsors AIA and ASTM have been joined in this effort by ASHRAE, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineers Society through their work on ANSI/ASHREA/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, now part of the IGCC.  The addition of ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1 to the IGCC as an alternative jurisdictional option is an effort to unite and rally around moving the entire industry forward in support of the IGCC. 

To date, we have seen the following coverage for IGCC since the initiative was first announced last summer:

• More than fifty million possible readers from a diverse pool of media outlets including wire services, national daily media and influential blogs.
• Twitter use and interest has increased from more than 600 followers to 1500 and counting.
• The communications team receives daily inquiries on the IGCC and is responding to an increased number of requests for articles and interviews.

The steady stream of news and events has propelled the ICC and its partners’ visibility and amplified public awareness for the IGCC initiative. This coverage has directly increased ICC’s presence in both print/online media, as well as a growing presence in social media communities such as Twitter.

To further increase the conversation on sustainable building codes, IGCC’s outreach efforts are leveraging numerous opportunities to engage people already involved in green conversations and working to harness their interest in the role of building codes so they become advocates for the IGCC.

The Public Version launch has generated substantial coverage on March 15 and in ongoing news scans. The news clips below offer a sample of coverage and represent an array of news outlets from international wire services such as Reuters to industry trades such as Architectural Record.

The clips are overwhelmingly positive in tone and the audience reach for these clips is estimated at more than forty million possible readers. Original articles appeared in a few places in addition to the feed of the announcement. For example, Chain Store Age ran an article the day after the event detailing the code and what is means for green building. 

A sample of news release pick up includes the following: Reuters, Earth Times, Engineering News Record, Federal Times, Dallas Business Journal, Associated Press, Fox Business Network, NY Daily Record, Builder News, Greenbiz.com, Architectural Record, Architecture Week, Dallas Business Journal.

The Voice of America was also onsite the day of the announcement to record a piece for their worldwide distribution channels as well as a post to YouTube.  To date, the video story has been viewed almost 1000 times and was the iGreenBuild video of the day.  Mike Armstrong and Chris Green are featured commentators and Rick Weiland is shown making opening comments.

During the first quarter of 2010, the Code Council also has received an overwhelming response from industry trade publications in construction and architecture prior to the event. We have responded to several articles since the New Year and will continue to respond to requests for articles on the IGCC.  Feature articles in trade publications are an excellent vehicle for delivering targeted messages, as they drive understanding awareness for the next phase of our code development process. Government Relations Manager, Phil McMahan, brought us the opportunity to update officials at the Building Officials Association of Florida in its quarterly newsletter. We also worked with an interested reporter at a newer outlet focused on sustainable business called Sustainable Industries Magazine. The IGCC and the topic of green construction were covered extensively in the article.

A sample of pickup from diverse blogs with an array of opinion on the Public Version 1.0 announcement is below - all of them positive and supportive:

• The Building Counsel Blog
• Green Talk
• World Landscape Architect
• Little Green Submarine
• Daily Journal of Commerce – Oregon
• Construction Knowledge Blog
• Matter Network

Twitter presence is being promoted by ICC, AIA and ASTM. Through these efforts we have been able to rally attention around IGCC news to the tune of thousands of people exposed to the campaign. More than a dozen followers of ICC re-tweeted the news of the IGCC Public Version 1.0 to their networks making for an extension and awareness of the story to thousands of people worldwide. Twitterstats.com, an online resource for measuring effective Tweeting, started tracking ICC on June 3, 2009. ICC continues to increase new followers for its tweets! We have added almost a thousand new followers since the first unveiling the IGCC last summer and still counting.