Green Building Law Blog : Green Building Lawyer & Attorney : Shari Shapiro: Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel Law Firm : Environmental, LEED

Yesterday, I discussed why I thought the ICC Green Building Code project was important enough to put off my knitting lessons for.  But you don't have to take my word for it. 

Maureen Guttman, AIA,  Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Green Government Council and Member of the ICC Sustainable Building Technology Committee, agreed to talk to Green Building Law Blog about why she felt the ICC Green Building Code Project was significant to sustainability and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.   

Guttman is an active leader in the architecture profession, recently serving as the Pennsylvania representative to the American Institute of Architects Board of Directors. She is a recognized expert on building codes and green building policy, and has been instrumental in the development and passage of several pieces of related legislation in Pennsylvania. 

GBLB: Why are you involved in the ICC Green Building Code Project? 

MG: I have been involved in building code stuff for years. I view it as a major obligation of the professional responsibilities as a licensed architect. Building codes are a playbook for the designers of buildings, so compliance with the codes is one of the very fundamental principles that our license is predicated on.

I believe that all architects should be involved in aggressive code awareness. This was one of the things I pushed for on Board of AIA. I think that architects who are not involved in code development and awareness are missing out on what adds value to our profession.

GBLB:  What makes the Green Building Code Project so important? 

MG: This is an unbelievable opportunity to bring together the rules of the game with respect to health safety and welfare and layer on top the environmental health which we are charged with safeguarding. The idea of tying together the tenets of building health and safety and commitment to sustainability and tie it with regulatory procedure is a very exciting opportunity for me personally and for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a good sign in terms of our commitment to codes that there are so many of us on the committee involved in developing the green building code—Pennsylvania is obviously a player.

GBLB:  What is the future of the Green Building Code? 

MG: It’s going to be very controversial. It is such a new way of thinking that there is going to be resistence. But hopefully it will provide some uniformity in what municipalities are enforcing as a ”green building". I hope it will also help the existing rating organizations promote ever more advanced sustainable initiatives—keeping the codes on its toes.

GBLB:  What is the future of the Green Building Code for Pennsylvania? 

MG: I’d like to think the green building i-code can be adopted in Pennsylvania as part of the process for adopting new codes. I envision a lively debate on it. I hope that Pennsylvania will be one of the first states to adopt it. It may be on a roll-in or an incentive basis. I hope that Pennsylvania will be at the forefront of pushing the adoption of this code. This will be a slam dunk measure to make some climate change goals achievable, as sole reliance on market incentives may not get us as far as fast.
 

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In the interests of full disclosure, I am a member of the International Code Council's team crafting a Green Building Code. 

Accoding to the ICC:

The objective of this new project is to develop a Green Building Code for traditional and high-performance buildings that is consistent and coordinated with the ICC family of Codes and Standards.

After LEED, Green Globes, BREEM, Energy Star, NAHB Green and the prospective ASHRAE 189, why on earth do we need another green building standard? Is it simply to give people like me something to do in their spare time (I had thought about taking up knitting)? The answer is definitely not. 

As articulated above, the point of the ICC Green Building Code is to be consistent with the other I-codes which most jurisdictions have adopted (or tweaked) as the basis of their building codes. Thus, builders building green buildings must adhere to two standards at least--the conventional I-Code based building code, and the green building standard.  This has caused many issues, including the waterless urinal fiasco, in which waterless urinals were prohibited under conventional code provisions.  By integrating a green building standard with the building code, these types of headaches can be minimized.

In addition,  code officials and policiticians are comfortable with adopting and utlizing I-Codes as the basis for building regulations.  Thus, municipalities do not have to reinvent the code wheel when looking to implement green building practices.

Finally, a solid compromise green building code can advance green building as the default standard.  In California, which has adopted a green building code, various interest groups, including the California Building Industry Association, have come on board with the code. 

There will always be a place for aspirational green building standards.  LEED, for example, should provide new and innovative and more challenging ways to reduce GHG emissions, materials usage, enhance energy efficiency, etc.  The goal of a code, however, should be to raise the floor of all buildings to a greener baseline.  ICC's Green Building Code effort is a step towards making that happen.  So, for me, knitting will have to wait.

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At the National Association of Home Builders' Green Conference in Dallas this weekend, conversation turned to retrofitting buildings.  There was universal acknowledgement among the homebuilders I spoke to that building new homes was going to be dwarfed by retrofitting and renovating existing dwellings for the next decade.   

There has been a lot of discussion about upgrading building codes to incorporate green standards.  ICC is working on a commercial green code, and ASHRAE recently released a new draft of standard 189, also for commercial green buildings.  NAHB developed an ANSI/ICC standard for residential green building, NAHB Green.     

The problem? Many building codes do not apply to residential renovations. In Pennsylvania, the Uniform Construction Code does not apply to: 

(8) Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, except as required by ordinances in effect under sections 303(b)(1) or 503 of the act (35 P. S. § § 7210.303(b)(1) and 7210.503). Under this subsection, a structural change does not include a minor framing change needed to replace existing windows or doors.
 
(9) Repairs to residential buildings, except as required by ordinances in effect under sections 303(b)(1) and 503 of the act.

So, even if the building codes are upgraded to be "green," many home renovations will not need to comply, thus leaving behind a big chunk of existing building stock.

One possible solution is to apply the standard new construction building code to all projects.  New York has recently announced its intention to do this with respect to its Energy Code.   Opponents argue that forcing every small house renovation to comply with the components of the comprehensive building code would be unnecessarily costly and burdernsome.

The other is to develop an existing building code, alongside the building code for new construction, that applies specifically to retrofits.  The ICC already has an existing building code, and it could be used as a base for creating appropriate green requirements for even small renovations.  The key is keeping the requirements simple and focused on key green priorities which can be addressed in even the smallest kitchen renovation--construction waste management, energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, and materials reuse. 

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The International Code Council, the non-profit organization which develops and maintains the International Building Code, announced on Earth Day that they were creating a new "green" commercial building code which would be in line with the ICC's other building code products. 

ICC codes are "consensus" based codes, so the process for developing the code involves:

• Convening a select drafting committee
• Inviting public comment on the initial draft
• Placing the final draft into the ICC code development process

This code may address the common criticism of LEED and other green building standards that they are not designed to be incorporated into building codes, and that they are not specific enough to be used as legal platforms. 

ICC is not the first organization to attempt to create a building-code friendly standard for green.  ASHRAE convened a committee to develop Standard 189.1 several years ago 

Proposed Standard 189, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will provide minimum requirements for the design of sustainable buildings to balance environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well-being, and community sensitivity. Using USGBC’s LEED Green Building Rating System, which addresses the top 25% of building practice, as a key resource, Standard 189P will provide a baseline that will drive green building into mainstream building practices.

Standard 189P will be an ANSI-accredited standard that can be incorporated into building code. It is intended that the standard will eventually become a prerequisite under LEED.
 

After releasing a draft standard in 2007, the ASHRAE dissolved the original committee in late 2008, and reconstituted it at the beginning of 2009.  There was a great deal of scuttle that the committee was dissolved because major builders, manufacturers and developers did not have enough of a say in the development of the standard. 

It will be interesting to see if ICC will be more successful that ASHRAE in developing a commercial green building code, and whether that code will, in fact, be green.  ICC developed a residential green standard with the National Association of Home Builders, and the criticism of the NAHB Green standard is that the requirements are not as stringent as LEED for Homes.  We shall see if the ICC green commercial standard will incorporate the same green requirements as LEED-NC. 

Finally, even creating an ICC green code will not solve the issue expressed by code officials that there is a lack of expertise and training in green construction.  In fact, if the ICC code is developed and adopted in municipalities and states across the country, a much greater investment will be required in training, education and expertise to ensure that the codes are implemented and enforced properly.

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