• Article By | CROFT

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It’s my pleasure to welcome the newest member to our blog team, Krystyna Bukowiecki. She will be discussing different aspects of Green Construction. This week she dives into the new International Green Construction Code (IGCC):

The newly approved IGCC  will apply to all new and renovated commercial buildings and residential over 3 stories high. The code will be published in March 2012; some municipalities have already begun officially adopting it.

The new code follows the basic Whole Building Design structure addressing site environmental impact, water and energy efficiency, indoor air quality, commissioning, building materials and waste management.

Although similar in structure to LEED, it is less stringent. It sets the minimum standards that will have to be followed in all buildings, while LEED is followed by only a small fraction of all new construction.

The code is intended to be adopted by jurisdictions on a mandatory basis and administered by building officials and is applicable to all commercial and some residential buildings.  There will be some mandatory requirements and some electives.  Local jurisdictions will have options to adopt, make some electives mandatory and add some new requirements.

Chapters which address fundamental aspects of green and sustainable building, including:

  • Site development and land use(Chapter 4)
  • Material resource conservation and efficiency (Chapter 5)
  • Energy conservation, efficiency and earth atmospheric quality (Chapter 6)
  • Water resource conservation and efficiency (Chapter 7)
  • Indoor environmental quality (Chapter 8 )
  • Building operation, maintenance and owner education (Chapter 9)