A code-enforceable standard

Trade groups join forces to craft a code-enforceable standard for green buildings

Deborah Snoonian

In February, three major organizations announced that they are working together toward a desired but so far elusive goal: an ANSI-accredited green building standard that can be incorporated into building codes. The USGBC, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) say the baseline standard, which will apply to new commercial construction and major renovations, will be fleshed out by 2007. Though the time frame is ambitious, officials are confident they can meet it. “The sooner we can raise the bar on the environmental performance of all buildings, the sooner we’ll achieve the ultimate goal of market transformation,” says Brendan Owens, director of LEED Design and Construction for USGBC.

The standard, known as Proposed Standard 189 (or Standard 189P): Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will be drafted by a steering committee of representatives from all three organizations. At press time, the committee was being assembled but no names had been announced.

The AIA is also participating and will likely have a seat on the steering committee as well, serving as a reviewer, says Jeff Levine, who holds the newly created post of resource architect for sustainability at the AIA. ASHRAE, which is ANSI-accredited, will shepherd Standard 189P through the required reviews and approvals.

The new standard will be largely based on LEED, with prescriptive measures for environmental performance drawn from its five categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Officials agree that energy efficiency and the effect of buildings on global warming should be high-priority areas.

The effort is a response to a widespread desire to make green building a required practice and to define its basic principles in a uniform way. If all goes as planned, code agencies could adopt Standard 189P as a baseline, while mandating additional sustainability measures as they see fit. This would relieve states and municipalities from needing to draft special legislation to mandate green buildings by, for instance, referencing LEED or other voluntary rating systems. There is precedent for this: Standard 90.1, codeveloped by ASHRAE and IESNA, has been almost universally adopted as a baseline standard for energy efficiency since it passed, in 1999. “We believe the new standard will eventually have the same success,” says Terry E. Townsend, president-elect of ASHRAE.

The new standard will probably be required under future versions of LEED, and may have other implications for LEED, as well. Most say the new performance measures will be about the same as those required for LEED-certified buildings. If that happens, building owners may be less inclined to pursue LEED certification, “but that doesn’t mean LEED goes away,” says Alan Traugott, principal of CJL Engineering in Pittsburgh. “The silver, gold, and platinum LEED levels will continue to drive the market by setting the pace for the highest voluntary standards for green building.”

The idea to codevelop the new standard grew out of conversations that took place initially at Greenbuild, USGBC’s 2005 annual conference. ASHRAE had recently developed a “road map” outlining its plan to assume a leadership role with respect to green buildings, while USGBC is still seeking ANSI accreditation as a standards-setting body.
Meanwhile, the Green Buildings Initiative, whose environmental assessment and ratings system is called Green Globes, was already recognized by ANSI as an accredited standards developer last year. It has formed a technical committee and hopes to establish Green Globes as an official ANSI standard by the fourth quarter of 2007. As to which standard will eventually be adopted by the industry, it’s too early to tell.

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