Codes + Standards, Legislation + Regulation

Liberty Building Forensics Group: Green Building Codes Present Potential Risks

Craig DiLouie January 7, 2010

Liberty Building Forensics Group has published a post on its blog here about potential downsides to coming green building codes such as ASHRAE 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.

Titled, “What Happens When Green Becomes Code: Do Buildings Get Better or Do Lawyers Get Richer?”, warms of the following possible risks:

* Lack of experience will increase design and construction deficiencies
* Standard of care will be elevated, increasing project risks
* Regional issues may not be not addressed

The bottom line, the blog post author argues, is that setting a higher standard does not guarantee it will be implemented correctly, while making it harder to tell the people who implement the standard correctly from those who don’t.

It’s an interesting argument. What do you think?

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Craig DiLouie

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