USGBC Reaffirms Commitment to Developing Green Building Code

The U.S. Green Building Council recently reaffirmed its commitment to the development of Standard 189.1P, which will be America’s first National Standard developed to be used as a green building code when completed.

Created specifically for adoption by states, localities, and other building code jurisdictions that are ready to require a minimum level of green building performance for all commercial buildings, Standard 189.1P is being developed as an ANSI standard under ASHRAE’s leadership, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council and IESNA.

Doubts about the future of Standard 189.1P were raised in late October by ASHRAE’s decision to reconstitute the volunteer committee responsible for the development of the green building code. While rebuilding the committee will mean delays, USGBC remains confident in the quality of the final result.

It’s an interesting (and ambitious) move to merge 90.1 and LEED to create a green building standard, which will likely see first use for public construction in the greener states and for commercial buildings in municipalities committed to green construction. Washington, DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles, for example, require most commercial buildings to reach LEED Silver, and in 2008, the State of California authored and adopted a statewide green building code. In terms of lighting, the latest draft of Standard 189.1 that I saw is aggressive and looked like a preview of what is likely to appear in ASHRAE 90.1-2010.

Craig DiLouie

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