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Rhode Island is the first state to adopt IGCC

Rhode Island is the first state to adopt the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), which provides the building industry with language that broadens and strengthens building codes to accelerate construction of high-performance green buildings throughout the U.S.

The Rhode Island Green Buildings Act identifies the IGCC as an equivalent standard in compliance with requirements that all public agency major facility projects be designed and constructed as green buildings. The rules and regulations to implement the act take effect this month.

The IGCC applies to new and existing, traditional and high-performance commercial buildings. It includes ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES 189.1, "Standard for the Design of High Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings," as an alternative compliance requirement.

"The emergence of green building codes and standards is an important next step for the green building movement, establishing a much-needed set of baseline regulations for green buildings that are adoptable, usable and enforceable by jurisdictions," says International Code Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer Rick Weiland. "The IGCC provides a vehicle for jurisdictions to regulate green for the design and performance of buildings in a manner that is integrated with existing codes as an overlay, allowing new and existing buildings to reap the rewards of improved design and construction practices."

In addition to ICC, the IGCC's cooperating sponsors are The American Institute of Architects, ASTM International, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Illuminating Engineers Society (IES).

In August, Richland, Wash., became the first city globally to adopt the IGCC as a nonmandatory document for commercial buildings.

For more information about IGCC, click here.

9/28/2010  

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