Building Codes Assistance Project

On January 28, the committee that is designing the first national building code standard on high-performance green buildings reformed and began working again three months after its work was suspended and members dispersed.

Convening at the Winter Conference of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), one of the standard's creators, the new committee approved an aggressive work plan for Standard 189.1 (Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings) that should produce a third public review of the proposed standard by the end of next month. If that goes smoothly, it could be ready for publication by January 2010.

According to CoStar Group, when applied to building codes, Standard 189.1 would set a more rigorous environmental baseline in areas like energy consumption and indoor air quality for buildings to receive a certificate of occupancy. It is being jointly developed by ASHRAE, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), and has been championed by many green building proponents.

The LEED-based standard was brought through two public comment periods by the original committee since 2006, although it had fallen behind schedule. It was suddenly dismissed in October 2008 by ASHRAE, which was pressured to expand the committee's membership by industry groups that were not initially invited to the table.

BCAP is proud to be represented by Mike DeWein on the committee, helping create an effective, quality green building standard for the United States.