Efficiency First

Some groups critical of two-tier rating system set to take effect in 2011

CALGREEN, the new California green building code approved last week by the California Building Standards Commission, has been criticized by some environmentalists and industry groups despite powerful provisions that will significantly reduce building energy and water use and regulate construction-related pollution sources.

The code sets mandatory environmental and energy efficiency standards designed to help the state meet its goal of a 33 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Yet according to the Christian Science Monitor, serious concerns have been voiced that the code will cause confusion in the industry:

Some environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council were critical of the two-tier “Calgreen” voluntary rating system suggested by the new code. That would clash with the “LEED” rating system, a voluntary green building label widely used nationwide, and cause confusion among builders, they said.

Moreover, a two-tier labeling system would be open to conflicting interpretations and thus be unenforceable by local building inspectors, they argued. More than 200 architects, engineers, and builders have also e-mailed Schwarzenegger to protest the label.

Similarly, Amy Westervelt reports in her blog at SolveClimate.com that while “most in the green building world see it as a net-positive step, not everyone is thrilled about it”  – in part due to the two-tier system built into the new code:

There’s the initial, mandatory baseline code, but then the state is introducing two tiers that municipalities can adopt if they want to go above and beyond. The cities that adopt the higher tier will be more expensive to build in than the cities that adopt just the baseline code. In cities like San Francisco, where green building codes are already in place, the municipal codes will trump the state codes, provided they are equally or more rigorous.

There are concerns within the building industry about the potential confusion caused by having first the variations on the state code (mandatory, Tier One and Tier Two), and then the different local building codes.

The construction industry has just under a year to prepare for the new regulations, which are scheduled to take effect in January 2011.

Read the Christian Science Monitor report here:
www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0115/California-adopts-first-statewide-green-building-code

Read Amy Westervelt’s blog post here:
www.solveclimate.com/blog/20100120/california-greening-states-new-green-building-codes-have-some-crying-foul