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The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) is partnering with McGraw-Hill on a new international green survey, and we encourage members of green building councils aro…
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Posts with the green construction tag
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14 Years Later, The Codes Begin to Follow Eisenberg’s Lead
Just yesterday, the International Code Council’s membership of code officials put the final touches on the 2012 version of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). For David Eisenberg – Executive Director of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT), former USGBC Board member, and long time chair of USGBC’s Codes Committee – it was a very clear culmination of a chapter in his life story, and the product of nearly two decades of work.
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Code Guidance for Greener Homes: One Last Shot for the 2012-IGCC
If you’ve followed the development of the International Green Construction Code, you’d know that the code’s coverage of low-rise residential buildings has been knocked around like a punching bag. First it was in. But since it was incorporated by reference and the development committee couldn’t touch it, the residential content meshed neither with the new code’s intent nor with its technical elements. Then it was pulled out. Then, most recently, it was not voted back in… and with this current, last round of opportunity, there’s one final chance to put it back in, and do it right.
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Code Cracking 101: Yes, You Can Help Update Standard 189.1
As I mentioned in my last post, it’s public review season for green building codes, standards and rating systems! Released in early 2010 as a fully-published ANSI standard, Standard 189.1* has been something of a constant amidst the past year’s public…
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Pinpointing the Best Stringency Level for a Green Construction Code
In my last post I gave a very simple answer to the question, “How stringent should a first-ever model green construction code be?” In sum, the answer is that it should be above current code (but not too far), fully recognizing that these decisions wil…
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How Stringent Should a First-Ever Model Green Construction Code Be?
You can probably guess that the question of “how far to go?” with this first-of-its-kind national model green construction code attracts a lot of varied answers. In fact, this may be the biggest and most unanswered question surrounding green building …
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IGCC Undergoes Second Round of Public Hearings
I spent a little more than two days in Dallas this week at the public hearings for the International Green Construction Code. You, too, can tune in and watch them online. You may want to have the reference material handy and – unless you find this stuff as interesting as I do – some toothpicks for your eyelids and a big cup of coffee.
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USGBC Updates White Paper and Introduces a New Policy Brief
The green building code conversation has gathered some impressive momentum since last year’s joint release of the International Green Construction Code and Standard 189.1. A handful of jurisdictions have already committed to study how they might imple…