The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and ICC Evaluation Service, LLC (ICC-ES), today announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen the relationship between CSI’s GreenFormat and the ICC-ES Environmental program.
ICC-ES currently references CSI’s MasterFormat and other formats in all of its evaluation reports. The MOU will add GreenFormat references.
“CSI’s GreenFormat identifies and organizes the sustainable attributes of building products,” said CSI Executive Director and CEO Walter Marlowe, P.E., CSI, CAE. “By collaborating with ICC-ES, it will help increase awareness and use of GreenFormat, particularly with products compliant to the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC), so that professionals who select building products can make informed choices.”
“This MOU recognizes the complementary nature of ICC-ES and CSI’s GreenFormat in the sustainable building sector and demonstrates added value to environmental reports,” said Rob Brooks, Director of ICC-ES Environmental Programs. “While CSI provides a uniform structure for manufacturers to report the sustainable characteristics of their products through GreenFormat, ICC-ES provides evidence that products meet requirements of codes and green building standards.”
Among the agreements included in the MOU:
-
ICC-ES will add GreenFormat’s numbering scheme within new and existing ICC-ES Environmental Evaluation reports (Verification of Attributes Reports™ and Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Listings) for environmental attributes.
-
ICC-ES and CSI will work together to maintain the relationship between GreenFormat categories and the questions in the ICC-ES Environmental Evaluation reports as both are updated and add references to new reports.
-
CSI will present ICC-ES Criteria to the GreenFormat task team for consideration as appropriate product evaluation tests within GreenFormat.
In addition, CSI and ICC-ES intend to participate in each other’s technical committees, where applicable.
GreenFormat provides a uniform structure for manufacturers to report the sustainable properties of their products. It helps industry professionals evaluate the green characteristics of building products they are considering for their projects.
The ICC-ES Sustainable Attributes Verification and Evaluation (SAVE) program provides manufacturers with independent verification that their products meet specific sustainability targets defined by today’s codes, standards and green rating systems. The ICC-ES SAVE and PMG Listing programs both evaluate the compliance of products to a subset of GreenFormat attributes. BD+C
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Nov 6, 2023
Top 170 Government Building Architecture Firms for 2023
Page Southerland Page, Gensler, Stantec, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest government building sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue from all government building sectors, including federal, state, local, military, and Veterans Affairs (VA) buildings.
Designers | Nov 6, 2023
DLR Group opens office in Nashville, Tenn.
DLR Group is expanding its presence in the Southeast with the opening of an office in downtown Nashville, Tenn.—a collaborative effort led by DLR Group Principals Matthew Gulsvig, AIA, LEED AP, and Randall Coy.
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 3, 2023
The University of Chicago Medicine is building its city’s first freestanding cancer center with inpatient and outpatient services
The University of Chicago Medicine (UChicago Medicine) is building Chicago’s first freestanding cancer center with inpatient and outpatient services. Aiming to bridge longstanding health disparities on Chicago’s South Side, the $815 million project will consolidate care and about 200 team members currently spread across at least five buildings. The new facility, which broke ground in September, is expected to open to patients in spring 2027.
Office Buildings | Nov 2, 2023
Amazon’s second headquarters completes its first buildings: a pair of 22-story towers
Amazon has completed construction of the first two buildings of its second headquarters, located in Arlington, Va. The all-electric structures, featuring low carbon concrete and mass timber, help further the company’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and 100% renewable energy consumption by 2030. Designed by ZGF Architects, the two 22-story buildings are on track to become the largest LEED v4 Platinum buildings in the U.S.
Sustainability | Nov 1, 2023
Researchers create building air leakage detection system using a camera in real time
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a system that uses a camera to detect air leakage from buildings in real time.
Adaptive Reuse | Nov 1, 2023
Biden Administration reveals plan to spur more office-to-residential conversions
The Biden Administration recently announced plans to encourage more office buildings to be converted to residential use. The plan includes using federal money to lend to developers for conversion projects and selling government property that is suitable for conversions.
Sustainability | Nov 1, 2023
Tool identifies financial incentives for decarbonizing heavy industry, transportation projects
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has released a tool to identify financial incentives to help developers, industrial companies, and investors find financial incentives for heavy industry and transport projects.
Contractors | Nov 1, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending increases for the 16th straight month, in September 2023
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.3% in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.1 trillion.
Sponsored | MFPRO+ Course | Oct 30, 2023
For the Multifamily Sector, Product Innovations Boost Design and Construction Success
This course covers emerging trends in exterior design and products/systems selection in the low- and mid-rise market-rate and luxury multifamily rental market. Topics include facade design, cladding material trends, fenestration trends/innovations, indoor/outdoor connection, and rooftop spaces.
Office Buildings | Oct 30, 2023
Find Your 30: Creating a unique sense of place in the workplace while emphasizing brand identity
Finding Your 30 gives each office a sense of autonomy, and it allows for bigger and broader concepts that emphasize distinctive cultural, historic or other similar attributes.