The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) today announce the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes. The IGCC provides the building industry with language that both broadens and strengthens building codes in a way that will accelerate the construction of high-performance, green buildings across the United States.
For decades, ICC and ASHRAE have worked to develop codes and standards that become the industry standard of care for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of residential and commercial buildings in the United States and internationally. In coordination with the efforts of ICC and ASHRAE, USGBC has been leading a nationwide green building movement centered on the LEED Green Building Rating System since LEED was launched in 2000. The convergence of these efforts in the IGCC is perhaps the most significant development in the buildings industry in the past 10 years.
Leveraging ICC's unrivaled delivery infrastructure to reach all 50 states and more than 22,000 local jurisdictions and ASHRAE, USGBC and IES's technical strengths, this partnership will accelerate the proliferation of green building codes and standards developed jointly by ICC, ASHRAE and USGBC and IES, across the country and around the globe. The newly launched IGCC establishes a previously unimaginable regulatory framework for the construction of high-performance, commercial buildings that are safe, sustainable and by the book.
A landmark addition to the technical content of the IGCC is the inclusion of ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, as an alternate path of compliance. Standard 189.1 is a set of technically rigorous requirements, which like the IGCC, covers criteria including water use efficiency, indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency, materials and resource use, and the building's impact on its site and its community. Standard 189.1 was written by experts representing all areas of the building industry, who contributed tens of thousands of man hours. Developed in a little over three years, the standard underwent four public reviews in which some 2,500 comments were received.
"The emergence of green building codes and standards is an important next step for the green building movement, establishing a much-needed set of baseline regulations for green buildings that is adoptable, usable and enforceable by jurisdictions," said ICC Chief Executive Officer Richard P. Weiland. "The IGCC provides a vehicle for jurisdictions to regulate green for the design and performance of new and renovated buildings in a manner that is integrated with existing codes as an overlay, allowing all new buildings to reap the rewards of improved design and construction practices."
"Bringing together the code expertise of ICC with technical expertise of ASHRAE to create a comprehensive green building code will accelerate our transformation to more sustainable building practices," Gordon Holness, ASHRAE president, said. "ASHRAE is committed to providing the design guidance building designers and engineers need to reduce the energy consumption of buildings."
"The U.S. Green Building Council's mission is market transformation and we've long recognized the need to reach beyond the market leaders served by LEED to accomplish this goal," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council. "Broadening the scope of the codes and establishing a higher floor allows us to continue to raise the ceiling, a critical factor in how the building industry is working to mitigate climate change. We are thrilled to see this set of complementary green building codes and standards; our organizations working collaboratively will advance green building nationwide in a way that was never before possible. "
"IES is pleased to support the collaborative efforts of the organizations which demonstrate expertise in code and technical standards development in this comprehensive green building code," said Rita Harrold, IES Director of Technology. "IES looks forward to ongoing guidance for sustainable building practices."
On Monday, March 15, ASHRAE, IES and USGBC will join ICC at its Washington, D.C., headquarters as they and their co-authors (the American Institute of Architects and the American Society for Testing Materials) launch the IGCC. On Monday, Standard 189 .1 and the IGCC will be available for wide distribution, providing much-needed content, code language, and vision for more safe and sustainable future. The organizations are also working together to advance related education and advocacy efforts to promote adoption, enforcement and compliance with the IGCC codes that will pave the way for green buildings and neighborhoods, while creating jobs and strengthening the economy.
For more information on IGCC: http://www.iccsafe.org/cs/IGCC/Pages/default.aspx and on Standard 189.1: www.ashrae.org/greenstandard.
Related Stories
| Mar 15, 2011
What will the architecture profession look like in 2025?
The global economy and the economic recession have greatly affected architecture firms' business practices. A Building Futures survey from the Royal Institute of British Architects looks at how these factors will have transformed the profession and offers a glimpse of future trends. Among the survey's suggestions: not only will architecture firms have to focus on a financial and business approach rather than predominantly design-led offices, but also company names are predicted to drop ‘architect’ altogether.
| Mar 15, 2011
Passive Strategies for Building Healthy Schools, An AIA/CES Discovery Course
With the downturn in the economy and the crash in residential property values, school districts across the country that depend primarily on property tax revenue are struggling to make ends meet, while fulfilling the demand for classrooms and other facilities.
| Mar 14, 2011
Renowned sustainable architect Charles D. Knight to lead Cannon Design’s Phoenix office
Cannon Design is pleased to announce that Charles D. Knight, AIA, CID, LEED AP, has joined the firm as principal. Knight will serve as the leader of the Phoenix office with a focus on advancing the firm’s healthcare practice. Knight brings over 25 years of experience and is an internationally recognized architect who has won numerous awards for his unique contributions to the sustainable and humanistic design of healthcare facilities.
| Mar 11, 2011
University of Oregon scores with new $227 million basketball arena
The University of Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena opened January 13 with a men’s basketball game against USC where the Ducks beat the Trojans, 68-62. The $227 million arena, which replaces the school’s 84-year-old McArthur Court, has a seating bowl pitched at 36 degrees to replicate the close-to-the-action feel of the smaller arena it replaced, although this new one accommodates 12,364 fans.
| Mar 11, 2011
Temporary modular building at Harvard targets sustainability
Anderson Anderson Architecture of San Francisco designed the Harvard Yard childcare facility, a modular building manufactured by Triumph Modular of Littleton, Mass., that was installed at Harvard University. The 5,700-sf facility will remain on the university’s Cambridge, Mass., campus for 18 months while the Harvard Yard Child Care Center and the Oxford Street Daycare Coop are being renovated.
| Mar 11, 2011
Holiday Inn reworked for Downtown Disney Resort
The Orlando, Fla., office of VOA Associates completed a comprehensive interior and exterior renovation of the 14-story Holiday Inn in the Downtown Disney Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The $25 million project involved rehabbing the hotel’s 332 guest rooms, atrium, swimming pool, restaurant, fitness center, and administrative spaces.
| Mar 11, 2011
Renovation energizes retirement community in Massachusetts
The 12-year-old Edgewood Retirement Community in Andover, Mass., underwent a major 40,000-sf expansion and renovation that added 60 patient care beds in the long-term care unit, a new 17,000-sf, 40-bed cognitive impairment unit, and an 80-seat informal dining bistro.
| Mar 11, 2011
Research facility added to Texas Medical Center
Situated on the Texas Medical Center’s North Campus in Houston, the new Methodist Hospital Research Institute is a 12-story, 440,000-sf facility dedicated to translational research. Designed by New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox, with healthcare, science, and technology firm WHR Architects, Houston, the building has open, flexible labs, offices, and amenities for use by 90 principal investigators and 800 post-doc trainees and staff.
| Mar 11, 2011
Blockbuster remodel transforms Omaha video store into a bank
A former Hollywood Video store in Omaha, Neb., was renovated and repurposed as the SAC Federal Credit Union, Ames Branch. Architects at Leo A Daly transformed the outdated 5,000-sf retail space into a modern facility by wrapping the exterior in poplar siding and adding a new glass storefront that floods the interior with natural light.
| Mar 11, 2011
Historic McKim Mead White facility restored at Columbia University
Faculty House, a 1923 McKim Mead White building on Columbia University’s East Campus, could no longer support the school’s needs, so the historic 38,000-sf building was transformed into a modern faculty dining room, graduate student meeting center, and event space for visiting lecturers, large banquets, and alumni organizations.
