Pictured above participating in the Online Governmental Consensus Vote this week is staff from the South Central Planning and Development Commission in Houma, La., where ICC Board Member Michael Wich serves as the Director of Building Code Administration and Chief Building Official.

Online Governmental Consensus Voting closes next week.

The Online Governmental Consensus Vote (OGCV) is open until Nov. 22. The Public Comment Hearings did not utilize electronic voting, therefore there is no vote tally from the Public Comment Hearings to be combined with the vote tally from the OGCV to determine the Final Action. The vote tally from only the votes cast on the OGCV will determine the Final Action on the code changes.

Standard 189.1 addenda available for public review and comment.

Eleven addenda to ASHRAE/IES/USGBC/ICC Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings — part of the process to develop the 2018 International Green Construction Code — are currently available for public review and comment. Published by ASHRAE, the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the International Code Council (ICC), Standard 189.1 contains minimum requirements for the siting, design and construction of high performance green buildings in support of reducing building energy use, resource consumption and other environmental impacts, and maintaining acceptable indoor environments.

Code Council creates new Emerging Leaders Membership Council.

The International Code Council created an Emerging Leaders Membership Council to give the association's future leaders an opportunity to shape its future goals and operations. The new Council establishes a place for young professionals to learn and participate as true peers in the Code Council, and will serve as a forum for Code Council members who are new to the code enforcement profession. Topics of concern will include new ways in which ICC members can communicate and interact, particularly regarding new technologies and social media vehicles. Code Council members will provide feedback regarding ways to best serve the needs of this next generation of professionals.

Code essentials on crawlspace walls.

Conditioned space must be surrounded by a contiguous building thermal envelope. The code allows for the thermal envelope with respect to the crawlspace to be horizontal in the floor above or vertical down the walls to create a conditioned crawlspace. Unvented or vertically insulated crawlspaces are allowed in International Residential Code R408.3 and International Building Code 1203.4.2 exception 4.

What do you want to be when you grow up? ICC University's new Certification Path Academy coming soon.

It's not uncommon to receive an inquiry such as, "I want to be a residential building inspector, what do I need to take?" Historically, we have referred people to the respective Certification Examination Information Bulletin as a starting point. The Bulletin lists all the publications that each Certification Exam references along with a weighted topics listing. This data is a great starting point, but that's all it is, a starting point. Now that the learner knows what publications are involved and the degree of the topics covered, how do they locate the training courses to actually begin learning the content? It is true, some will feel comfortable cracking open each code book and reading it cover-to-cover, but we all learn differently.

The new ICC University Certification Path Academy offers a new approach to supporting those looking to obtain an ICC Certification. A simple click will bring the user to a full curriculum which includes supporting courses (face-to-face and online), publications and prep exams to help prepare for the certification exam. No more trying to figure out what you need to take in order to reach your certification goal! Let ICC University help. Will we see you at the new ICC U? Coming to computers near you in January of 2017.

ICC teams with structural engineers to publish new design guides.

ICC and the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California have co-published a landmark set of Design Guides that explain the application of two mandatory City of Los Angeles earthquake hazard reduction ordinances affecting existing buildings. While aspects of the guides focus on the mandatory ordinances and historical construction practices of the Southern California region, the insightful commentary can be of help in other regions of moderate or high seismicity.

Building Innovation 2017 features prominent industry leaders & advocates.

The National Institute of Building Sciences' fifth Annual Conference and Expo — Building Innovation 2017 — is set to feature industry leaders and advocates covering a wide variety of topics on Collaborating for a High-Performing Future Jan. 9-12, 2017, in Washington, D.C. International Code Council Board Director Cindy Davis, past ICC President and current Membership and Certification Vice President Ronald Piester, and former ICC Board Member Tim Ryan will lead the attendees in stimulating creative ideas and developing solutions to benefit the entire industry.

Seize this opportunity to address community resiliency.

Travelers Insurance Institute is committed to raising awareness about disaster preparedness and creating discussion about the importance of improving response and recovery actions after major events. The company has created an annual Excellence in Community Resilience Award of $100,000 to recognize an organization that demonstrates leadership in addressing community resiliency. The application process closes Dec. 5 and is open to U.S.-based, IRS-designated public charities and government agencies.

ICC affiliate sponsors