ICC, ASHRAE outline roles to consolidate IgCC and 189.1

"IgCC Powered by 189.1” will provide the design and construction industry with “the single, most-effective way to deliver sustainable, resilient, high-performance buildings," according to the trade groups behind the agreement.

By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | July 27, 2015

The International Code Council (ICC) and ASHRAE have come to the final agreement that outlines each organization’s role in the development and maintenance of the new version of the International Green Construction Code (IgCC).

Sponsored by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), ASHRAE, ICC, the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), “IgCC Powered by 189.1” will provide the design and construction industry with “the single, most-effective way to deliver sustainable, resilient, high-performance buildings,” the groups say.

The code is scheduled to be released in 2018. The ICC will be responsible for Chapter 1, Scope and Administration. ICC will coordinate the technical provisions developed by ASHRAE with the provisions in Chapter 1 of the 2015 IgCC. As a result, the 2016 Group B Cycle will not include Chapter 1 of the IgCC for code changes.

With ASHRAE developing technical provisions, ICC’s 2017 Group C cycle to develop the 2018 IgCC has been cancelled. Part of the development process for the 2018 technical provisions will include the SSPC review of the 2015 IgCC and consideration of content for inclusion in 189.1-2017, along with changes generated by the committee and proposals submitted by stakeholders. Following the completion of the 2018 IgCC, Chapter 1 of the IgCC will be developed by ICC using its consensus code development process.

“Our goal in this partnership all along has been to share resources to increase use of the IgCC and make it simpler for code officials, designers and contractors to build environmentally efficient structures that will lessen energy and water consumption and reduce the carbon footprint,” said ICC Board President Guy Tomberlin, CBO. “We are now situated to do just that.”

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.