|
Green Construction Codes Can Lead to Sustainable and Safe Communities
As jurisdictions around the world pursue the goal of creating greener, more sustainable communities, the enforcement of a consistent, regulatory framework such as the International Codes will ensure safety, as well, Code Council COO Dominic Sims told delegates at the Green Building Focus Conference and EXPO. Sims served as a keynote speaker at the event that drew 1,400 industry professionals to Birmingham, Alabama. He said green and safe structures can co-exist in an evolving, sustainable environment, as evidenced by past efforts in code development and enforcement and new initiatives such as the National Green Building Standard (NGBS), developed by the National Association of Home Builders and the Code Council, and the forthcoming International Green Construction Code (IGCC). "Some of you may be asking, ‘What specifically does the International Code Council do in the area of sustainability?’” Sims said. “Well, the ICC has been a leader in promoting sustainability dating back to the 1970s, when our legacy organizations developed the first model code to promote energy efficiency.” Sims noted that the International Energy Conservation Code is now considered by the U.S. Department of Energy to be the leading tool to help communities achieve significant gains in energy efficiency. He also pointed to the International Plumbing Code, which in the early 1990s incorporated requirements for low consumption fixtures, and building and fire safety code requirements in general which assure that buildings are more resistant to fires, natural disasters and collapse, and thereby conserve natural resources such as wood, steel, concrete, gypsum and others. “These are just some of the examples of how the I-Codes address sustainability,” Sims said. “But there are many more issues surrounding green construction that require the same consistent regulatory framework that the ICC Family of Codes can provide.” Sims said when member jurisdictions across the U.S. began addressing concepts of green and sustainable building, the Code Council responded with its multi-year “Greening Our World” initiative. The first major step of the initiative was the NGBS. “With the support of our friends at the U.S. Green Building Council and Green Building Initiative, who pioneered green building rating systems, we embarked to develop a standard that would help production builders drive sustainable building into the mainstream of homebuilding,” Sims explained. Next was the announcement of the development of the IGCC earlier this year. The newest member of the ICC Family of Codes is being co-sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and ASTM International. “Based on the lessons we learned in the development of the NGBS, it became clear that what communities were also looking for was a regulatory tool that could help agencies with their sustainable goals, where the market-forced approach is not strong enough to produce sufficient change,” Sims told attendees.
Leading the development of the IGCC is the Code Council’s Sustainable Building Technology Committee (SBTC). David Eisenberg, Director of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology, is an SBTC member who took a break from the committee’s inaugural meeting in Chicago to also serve as a keynote speaker at the Green Building Focus Conference. He said one key to attaining green and safe communities is bridging the gap between existing and new green building technologies with code enforcement officials who will implement them on a daily basis. “We all want safe buildings and we all want a safe planet,” Eisenberg said. “If building departments and building officials become community resources, then all kinds of things are possible.” Speaking on the opening day of the conference, actor and activist Ed Begley, Jr. applauded U.S. government initiatives such as the Clean Air and Safe Water Acts for having positive impacts on the environment. But for green and sustainable building concepts to truly gain momentum in jurisdictions across the U.S., he said another important key is convincing local government leaders that their communities can have a lasting impact on the planet. “All politics begin on the local level,” Begley said. “And that is where you should start.” Presented by alive2green, the Green Building Focus Conference and EXPO examined the benefits and growing demand for green building, funding opportunities, and innovative green building techniques that are currently in use. The Code Council was a co-sponsor of the event and conducted a CEU-accredited course, “Introduction to ICC 700: National Green Building Standard.” For more information, click here.
Home | Membership | ICC Store | Codes & Standards | Government Relations |
