 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
The California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen Code) is Part 11 of the California Building Standards Code and is the first statewide "green" building code in the US. [1]
The purpose of CALGreen is to improve public health, safety and general welfare by enhancing the design and construction of buildings through the use of building concepts having a reduced negative impact or positive environmental impact and encouraging sustainable construction practices in the following categories:
To achieve CALGreen Tier 1, buildings must comply with the latest edition of "Savings By Design, Healthcare Modeling Procedures". [2] To achieve CALGreen Tier 2, buildings must exceed the latest edition of “Savings By Design, Healthcare Modeling Procedures” by a minimum of 15%. [3]
The provisions of this code are directed to:
In US urban land area quadrupled from 1945 to 2002, increasing at about twice the rate of population growth over this period. Estimated area of rural land used for residential purposes increased by 21,000,000 acres (85,000 km2) (29%) from 1997 to 2002 (2002). [4]
Water is a precious natural resource. At least two-thirds of the United States have experienced or are bracing for local, regional, or statewide water shortages. US population, and in particular California population has constantly increased during the last decades, so using water wisely is crucial in order to provide enough water also for the future generations. [5] [6]
During the 20th century, water diverted south through the California Aqueduct was economically essential to Los Angeles. But fisheries, wildlife and water quality in the bay and delta paid a heavy price. [7] Water is becoming an increasingly important resource throughout California and the United States.
The largest single use of potable water in California is water used to irrigate for agriculture. The largest remaining segment of water use is that of public water supplies.
Buildings in the United States contribute 38.9% of the nation's total carbon dioxide emissions, including 20.8% from the residential sector and 18.0% from the commercial sector (2008). [8] On average, the energy use for typical buildings is assumed to consist of 67% electricity and 33% natural gas. [9]
The annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4 °F (1–3 °C) warmer than its surroundings. In the evening, the difference can be as high as 22 °F (12 °C). Heat islands can increase summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality. One study estimates that the heat island effect is responsible for 5–10% of peak electricity demand for cooling buildings in cities. [10] [11] HVAC systems was required to use MERV 13 filtration, up from MERV 8, (2019 CalGreen, effective January 1, 2020)
Approximately 170 million tons of building-related C&D materials were generated in the U.S. during 2003. This is a 25% increase in generation from the 1996 estimate of 136 million tons ( which was 25% to 40% of the national solid waste stream). [12]
The residential mandatory measures are provided in chapter 4 and the non-residential ones in chapter 5 of CALGreen Code.
About the residential mandatory measures, the Code provides measures like storm water drainage and retention systems thought to prevent flooding of adjacent properties and prevent pollution from storm water runoff by retaining soil on-site or by providing filtering to restrict sedimentation from reaching storm water drainage systems and receiving streams or rivers. To comply, retention basin has to be sized and shown on the site plan, and water has to be filtered and routed to a public drainage system. The new residential structure has to also comply with local storm water ordinances. [13]
The drainage system has to be shown on the site plan (swales, drain piping, retention areas, ground water recharge). [14]
CALGreen does not regulate energy efficiency (both for residential and non-residential structures), instead remanding it to the California Energy Commission (CEC) and its California Energy Code. [15]
Concerning the water issue, the code requires a 20% reduction of indoor water use and it uses both a prescriptive and performance method.
The prescriptive method provides some technical features that have to be followed:
The performance method uses the performance calculation worksheets in Chapter 8 (or other calculation acceptable to the enforcing agency). [16]
CALGreen also specifies acceptable performance standards for plumbing fixtures with reduced water usage. Fixtures can be installed if they meet standards listed in Table 4.303.3. [17]
Also outdoor water usage is regulated: the Code requires irrigation controls to be weather- or soil moisture-based and automatically adjust irrigation in response to changes in plants' needs as weather conditions change, or have rain sensors or communication systems that account for local rainfall. [18]
About construction waste reduction, disposal, and recycling, the code says that at least 50% of nonhazardous construction and demolition debris have to be recycled and/or salvaged. [19] This has to be done through the development of a waste management plan submitted for approval to the enforcing agency. [20]
CALGreen Appendix A4 contains the voluntary measures (Tier 1 and Tier 2) that were developed in response to numerous stakeholder requests for a statewide method of enhancing green construction practiced beyond the Code's minimum levels. To meet Tier 1 or Tier 2, designers, builders, or property owners must increase the number of green building measures and further reduce percentages of water and energy use and waste to landfills in order to meet the threshold levels for each tier (these measures are listed in Section A4.601.4.2 (Tier 1) and Section A4.601.5.2 (Tier 2)). [21]
Also for non-residential structures CALGreen demands 20% savings of potable water, standards for plumbing fixtures and fittings, a construction waste management plan, [22] and a construction reduction waste of at least 50%. [23]
The Code also requires a finish material pollutant control [24] and an acoustical control for exterior noise transmission [25] and interior sound. [26]
The CALGreen 2010 Code was adopted by the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC), the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the Division of the State Architect (DSA) within the California Department of General Services, and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) within the California Health and Human Services Agency.
CBSC has the responsibility to administer the program and review building standards proposed by state agencies, develop building standards for occupancies where no other state agency has the authority (non-residential) and adopt and approve building standards for publication. [27]
The targets of the Code are designers, architects, builders, property owners, and also businesses and the government that have to take into consideration the new standards when they decide to build new structures.
Several legislative bills like AB 35, AB 888, and AB 1058 were introduced during the 2007–2008 legislative session to require green building standards for state-owned or leased buildings, commercial buildings, and residential buildings respectively. [21]
Development of CALGreen began in 2007 and, during the rulemaking process, CBSC collaborated with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), stakeholder groups and others. The first result of this cooperation was the adoption of the 2008 California Green Building Standards Code (CGBC) that became effective since August 1, 2009. [21]
The initial 2008 California Green Building Code publication provided a framework and first step toward establishing green building standards for low-rise residential structures. 2008 GBSC was used as a base document, analyzed and evaluated for necessary updates that lead to the 2010 CALGreen Code, but this is not the last step of the process: as new materials, technology, and designs are developed and become available, also CALGreen has to develop.
There are some enhancements from the 2008 Code to the 2010 one, among them: The previous code said that energy efficiency was regulated by the California Energy Code. Section 4.201.1 of CALGreen 2010 clarifies instead that the CEC adopts regulations to establish the minimum level of energy efficiency a structure that is heated or cooled must meet or exceed. [28] About indoor water use, HCD adopted maximum flush rates for toilets and the CEC adopted appliance standards which limit water use of appliances and fixtures. Section 4.303.1 of 2010 CALGreen reduces indoor water use by at least 20% and it also provides a prescriptive and a performance method to meet the requirements. [28] CALGreen 2010 also covers items that weren't covered before like multiple showerheads and irrigation controllers. [28]
CALGreen 2010 uses prescriptive regulation (it provides technical characteristics that have to be met in the construction of new buildings).
Economists and industry, often criticize this kind of regulation because it provides little reason for innovation once the regulated party has achieved the required standard. [29] However CALGreen provides just the minimum standard to achieve and it delegates to Local authorities to increase the level of the standards to apply (depending on the particular characteristics of the local area).
This tool is the most effective to solve in the long run the environmental problems faced by this policy because fixing technical characteristics that have to be followed in the construction process it assures that all the new buildings will have certain desirable characteristics of efficiency.
CALGreen 2010 alleviates the environmental problems connected with residential and non-residential structures, but it doesn't solve them both because it is limited to the new buildings.
There are a lot of players interested in CALGreen and in its evolution. Policy targets are important stakeholders: designers, architects, builders, property owners and in general also businesses, the government and its agencies.
Some of the stakeholders try to influence the evolution of the policy participating to CBSC's and HCD's Green Building Focus Groups (stakeholder focus groups). They are: building officials; representatives from the construction industry; representatives from the environmental community; state agency representatives and public members. [30]
There are also government agencies involved. A part from CBSC, HCD, DSA, and OSHPD, the following agencies contribute to the formulation of the policy: Air Resource Board (for standards concerning air pollutants), California Integrated Waste Management Board (CalRecycle) (for what concerns landfill disposals), the Department of General Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Water Resources and the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission).
Building officials are interested in the policy because they want to know what are the new standards and what processes lead to them in order to understand how to do their job in the best way possible.
Construction Industry is very interested in influencing the policy because changes in the standards could mean changes in suppliers and maybe also increasing costs and they are mainly interested in minimizing costs.
Producers of plumbing fixtures or companies that produce insulation systems for the house are interested in CALGreen because it modifies their sectors (like it modify also the construction industry); the change can be encouraged by those companies that produce energy or water saving products or it can be obstructed by those that are not ready yet.
The environmentalists are interested in maximize the level of the mandatory provisions contained in the policy in order to maximize the benefits for the environment.
State agencies like the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development are instead interested in protecting particular benefits for the community (in the case of OSHPD the health).
HCD organizes annual and triennial focus group meetings among stakeholders to check the effectiveness of the policy adopted and to discuss proposed changes to the code. [28]
CALGreen 2010 is effective since January 1, 2011, so it's still too early for evaluate its effectiveness.
However both BIG and LEED are successful standards similar to CALGreen.
The system developed by Build-it-Green is called GreenPoint Rated Climate Calculator and initial project run-throughs using the Climate Calculator found emissions reductions of about 20% over conventional new construction built to code. [31]
In March 2008 a study of New Buildings Institute found that on average, LEED-NC buildings deliver anticipated savings and that LEED energy use is similar to predictions: 25–30% better than the national average (average savings increase for the higher LEED levels). [32]
Energy Star is an energy-efficiency program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The EPA establishes energy efficiency specifications, and those that meet these specifications are eligible to display the ENERGY STAR logo.
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively or changing one's behavior to use less and better source of service. Energy conservation can be achieved through efficient energy use, which has some advantages, including a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller carbon footprint, as well as cost, water, and energy savings.
Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building also refers to saving resources to the maximum extent, including energy saving, land saving, water saving, material saving, etc., during the whole life cycle of the building, protecting the environment and reducing pollution, providing people with healthy, comfortable and efficient use of space, and being in harmony with nature. Buildings that live in harmony; green building technology focuses on low consumption, high efficiency, economy, environmental protection, integration and optimization.’
A low-energy house is characterized by an energy-efficient design and technical features which enable it to provide high living standards and comfort with low energy consumption and carbon emissions. Traditional heating and active cooling systems are absent, or their use is secondary. Low-energy buildings may be viewed as examples of sustainable architecture. Low-energy houses often have active and passive solar building design and components, which reduce the house's energy consumption and minimally impact the resident's lifestyle. Throughout the world, companies and non-profit organizations provide guidelines and issue certifications to guarantee the energy performance of buildings and their processes and materials. Certifications include passive house, BBC—Bâtiment Basse Consommation—Effinergie (France), zero-carbon house (UK), and Minergie (Switzerland).
Green development is a real estate development concept that considers social and environmental impacts of development. It is defined by three sub-categories: environmental responsiveness, resource efficiency, and community and cultural sensitivity. Environmental responsiveness respects the intrinsic value of nature, and minimizes damage to an ecosystem. Resource efficiency refers to the use of fewer resources to conserve energy and the environment. Community and cultural sensitivity recognizes the unique cultural values that each community hosts and considers them in real estate development, unlike more discernable signs of sustainability, like solar energy,. Green development manifests itself in various forms, however it is generally based on solution multipliers: features of a project that provide additional benefits, which ultimately reduce the projects' environmental impacts.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods, which aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.
A Zero-Energy Building (ZEB), also known as a Net Zero-Energy (NZE) building, is a building with net zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site or in other definitions by renewable energy sources offsite, using technology such as heat pumps, high efficiency windows and insulation, and solar panels.
The Code for Sustainable Homes was an environmental assessment method for rating and certifying the performance of new homes in United Kingdom. First introduced in 2006, it is a national standard for use in the design and construction of new homes with a view to encouraging continuous improvement in sustainable home building. In 2015 the Government in England withdrew it, consolidating some standards into Building Regulations.
Energy engineering is a multidisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on optimizing energy systems, developing renewable energy technologies, and improving energy efficiency to meet the world's growing demand for energy in a sustainable manner. It encompasses areas such as energy harvesting and storage, energy conversion, energy materials, energy systems, energy efficiency, energy services, facility management, plant engineering, energy modelling, environmental compliance, As one of the most recent engineering disciplines to emerge, energy engineering plays a critical role in addressing global challenges like climate change, carbon reduction, and the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and sustainable energy.
Efficient energy use, or energy efficiency, is the process of reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services. There are many technologies and methods available that are more energy efficient than conventional systems. For example, insulating a building allows it to use less heating and cooling energy while still maintaining a comfortable temperature. Another method is to remove energy subsidies that promote high energy consumption and inefficient energy use. Improved energy efficiency in buildings, industrial processes and transportation could reduce the world's energy needs in 2050 by one third.
Design standards, reference standards and performance standards are familiar throughout business and industry, virtually for anything that is definable. Sustainable design, taken as reducing our impact on the earth and making things better at the same time, is in the process of becoming defined. Also, many well organized specific methodologies are used by different communities of people for a variety of purposes.
This article provides examples of green building programs in the United States. These programs span the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and all have the goal of increasing energy efficiency and the sustainability of the built environment.
Green building on college campuses is the purposeful construction of buildings on college campuses that decreases resource usage in both the building process and also the future use of the building. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions, energy use, and water use, while creating an atmosphere where students can be healthy and learn.
A green building is one that uses less water, optimizes energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building. The Indian green building council (IGBC) is the leading green building movement in the country. Throughout the building lifecycle, green buildings employ practices that are resource- and environmentally-conscious. The idea of "green buildings" attempts to completely reduce any bad effects while maximizing any beneficial effects a structure has on both its surrounding environment and its human occupants.
The International Green Construction Code (IGCC) is a set of guidelines that aim to improve the sustainability and environmental performance of buildings during their design, construction, and operation. It was introduced by the International Code Council (ICC), a non-profit organization that provides building safety and fire prevention codes for the United States and other countries. It is a model code designed to be mandatory where it is implemented.
A green home is a type of house designed to be environmentally sustainable. Green homes focus on the efficient use of "energy, water, and building materials". A green home may use sustainably sourced, environmentally friendly, and/or recycled building materials. This includes materials like reclaimed wood, recycled metal, and low VOC paints. Additionally, green homes often prioritize energy efficiency by incorporating features, such as high-performance insulation, energy-efficient appliances, and smart home technologies that monitor and optimize energy usage. Water conservation is another important aspect, with green homes often featuring water-saving fixtures, rainwater harvesting systems, and grey water recycling systems to reduce water waste. It may include sustainable energy sources such as solar or geothermal, and be sited to take maximum advantage of natural features such as sunlight and tree cover to improve energy efficiency.
"Sustainability," was defined as “development which implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”as defined by the 1983 Brundtland Commission. As sustainability gains support and momentum worldwide, universities across the United States have expanded initiatives towards more sustainable campuses, commitments, academic offerings, and student engagement.
Sustainable refurbishment describes working on existing buildings to improve their environmental performance using sustainable methods and materials. A refurbishment or retrofit is defined as: "any work to a building over and above maintenance to change its capacity, function or performance' in other words, any intervention to adjust, reuse, or upgrade a building to suit new conditions or requirements". Refurbishment can be done to a part of a building, an entire building, or a campus. Sustainable refurbishment takes this a step further to modify the existing building to perform better in terms of its environmental impact and its occupants' environment.
The House Energy Rating (HER) or House Energy Rating Scheme (HERS) are worldwide standard measures of comparison by which one can evaluate the energy efficiency of a new or an existing building. The comparison is generally done for energy requirements for heating and cooling of indoor space. The energy is the main criterion considered by any international building energy rating scheme but there are some other important factors such as production of greenhouse gases emission, indoor environment quality, cost efficiency and thermal comfort, which are considered by some schemes. Basically, the energy rating of a residential building provides detailed information on the energy consumption and the relative energy efficiency of the building. Hence, HERs inform consumers about the relative energy efficiency of homes and encourage them to use this information in making their house purchase decision.
Green building certification systems are a set of rating systems and tools that are used to assess a building or a construction project's performance from a sustainability and environmental perspective. Such ratings aim to improve the overall quality of buildings and infrastructures, integrate a life cycle approach in its design and construction, and promote the fulfillment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by the construction industry. Buildings that have been assessed and are deemed to meet a certain level of performance and quality, receive a certificate proving this achievement.
This article incorporates text from publications of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which is in the public domain.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)[ dead link ] This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)