U.S. Mayors Endorse ICC's New Green Code
Code Reduces Environmental Impact, Increase Performance and Safety of Civic Structures
By: Lydia Wood - Friday, July 2, 2010
Source: IGCC
June 30, 2010 – At its recent annual meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) endorsed the new International Green Construction Code (IGCC) from the International Code Council. The IGCC is a comprehensive set of requirements intended to reduce the negative impact of buildings on the natural environment while maintaining safety standards and increasing long-term peak performance.
“The IGCC needs the backing of leadership within local jurisdictions if it is to have any impact on the carbon footprint of the nation’s building sector, which accounts for almost 40 percent of America’s energy consumption and 72 percent of its electricity use,” said George H. Miller, FAIA, president of the American Institute of Architects, which applauded the endorsement along with the US Green Building Council and other developers of the IGCC. “This resolution by America’s mayors is a huge step in that direction.”
USCM called on all U.S. cities to adopt green building codes and recommended that local governments wishing to take a more holistic approach to incorporating energy efficiency, sustainable community planning and healthy and safe building practices into the codes should adopt the IGCC and consider its Standard 189.1 compliance path as base code in their jurisdiction. Since building codes are set at the local, state and federal levels, an endorsement from USCM is an important step toward making green building mainstream.
Links to the full IGCC can be accessed here:
http://www.iccsafe.org/cs/igcc/pages/default.aspx