California Enacts Statewide Green Building Standards

A recent Architect’s Newspaper article explains CALGreen, the state of California’s new green building standards. CALGreen, announced by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on January 12 and due to go into effect next year, will become the first statewide green building standards in the country, the article said. Though distinct, CALGreen includes parallels with the USGBC’s LEED building certification system.

Developed by the California Building Standards Commission (BSC) over the last three years, the standards include sustainable requirements for residential, commercial, and public building construction.

Notable among CALGreen’s requirements are a provision that every new building constructed in the state will have to reduce its water consumption by 20 percent, divert at least 50 percent of construction waste from the landfill, install low pollutant-emitting materials, and include separate water meters for use in non-residential buildings. The CALGreen codes are organized into two tiers, with Tier 1 including the above basic requirements, and Tier 2 requiring enhanced commitments to these requirements, such as a 65 percent waste-diversion standard.

Cities in the Golden State that already have standards exceeding those delineated in CALGreen will not be required to change their codes to comply with the code’s Tier 1 requirements. Approximately 400 jurisdictions in California currently lack green building rules. The code will apply to all buildings in the state, with the exception of federal buildings and those constructed on Native American land, the article said.

Some building industry professionals predict a future in which buildings under construction in California will earn both designations. For example, Bryan Jackson, partner at the law firm Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis, anticipates that the CALGreen designation may become a supplement to a LEED certification:  “I predict people will pursue both CALGreen and LEED and hang both plaques with pride.”

---
Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com