INTERNATIONAL
CODE COUNCIL
The International Green Construction Code is on the Move
By Laura Taylor
Momentum continues with the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), as the end of the 2010 marked the unveiling of Public Version 2.0. The International Code Council (ICC) launched this most recent version of the IGCC at a November media event at the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Greenbuild International Conference & Expo to a standing-room-only crowd of media and industry leaders. The Code Council and representatives from all five cooperating sponsors joined to show their commitment to offering code options that support the success of the building industry.
The Public Version 2.0 launch was covered in a wide range of trade publications with access to thousands of industry decision makers and leaders. It also augmented discussion of the overall impact of greener codes in the International Herald Tribune and Reuters International newswire via the Matter Network. For a complete list of media clips, please see the IGCC newsroom.
With the new Public Version 2.0, the Code Council has developed new service offerings from training to certification. The training module being offered is called IGCC Fundamentals (Public Version 1.0 March 2010), which can be scheduled by calling 1-888-ICCSAFE (422-7233), ext. 33818. The training includes a one-day, six-hour live seminar overview of the IGCC, worth 0.6 Continuing Education Units (CEUs), that teaches structure of the new code and how to use and apply the code to specific situations. The training to help prepare any organization for adoption and implementation will update as the IGCC moves through its final development stages.
Launched last fall, certification offerings for the IGCC include exams that are available for IGCC Inspectors and IGCC Plans Examiners. There are two versions of each exam – one with ASHRAE 189.1 content and one without – tailored to the communities the inspectors and examiners serve. The exams address five key areas of focus: Administration, Land and Site Planning, Conservation and Efficiency of Materials, Indoor Air Quality and Existing Buildings and Site Development.
The new year brings with it many opportunities to get involved with the IGCC. The IGCC development process will involve two hearings in 2011. Code change proposals for Public Version 2.0 were accepted until January 3, 2011, and are under consideration by a committee that has been selected to oversee both hearing sessions. The first set of hearings will be held in May 2011 in Dallas, with follow-up hearings in Phoenix later in the year.
“2010 was a success – a very productive year for IGCC development,” said Mike Pfeiffer, an ICC Deputy Senior Vice President of Technical Services, who has played an integral role in oversight of the IGCC process. “The Sustainable Technology Building Committee completed Public Version 1.0, and judging by
the volume of comments received – more than 1,500 – there’s a lot of interest out there. Our codes can only get better when stakeholders participate to suggest changes. And the participation we’ve gotten to date is a clear sign that green code is gaining momentum.”
With respect to the hearing schedule this year, Pfeiffer anticipates a full agenda for May hearings and noted that “the 2011 hearing oversight committee has been split into two committee teams. Energy and water (Chapters 6 and 7) are one team and the rest of the code chapters will go to a general committee team. Since the energy and water chapters receive so much feedback, we thought it was best to develop the committee this way in order to address all the feedback we will receive.”
This article originally appeared in the February 2011 issue of the Building Safety Journal, copyright International Code Council, and is reprinted with permission.
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