Conservation

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By Linda Schilling, Charity Gilbreth, and Shirin Forootan

On April 14, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will hold a public meeting in Washington, DC to solicit comments on proposed changes to the new International Green Construction Code (IgCC).  There are approximately 1400 proposed changes addressing a wide range of issues—from vegetative roofs, to solar electric issues, to building envelope issues.  Hearings on the proposed changes are scheduled thereafter for May 16-22, 2011, in Dallas, Texas. 

The IgCC was developed by the International Code Council (ICC), which is a U.S. based non-profit organization that allows governmental jurisdictions and other stakeholders around the world to collaborate in the creation of model building codes.  ICC members include state, county and municipal code officials and fire officials, architects, engineers, builders, contractors, elected officials, manufacturers and others in the construction industry.  The ICC has published several comprehensive international codes, such as fire codes, fuel gas codes, residential codes, zoning codes, and plumbing codes.

The “green building” trend—which includes everything from designing development projects to include onsite solar panels, minimizing energy use, siting projects to use existing infrastructure, and a host of other “environmentally friendly” techniques—is gaining momentum.  According to McGraw-Hill, green building is expected to triple by 2015, ultimately representing 40–48 percent of the nonresidential construction market.  While there are clear advantages to building “green,” along with opportunity comes the potential for risk.  As the number of green buildings increase, so too does…