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07/21/2008 09:18 AM
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California Issues Statewide Building Standards
SustainableBusiness.com News
Califronia issued new statewide building standards that fell short of the strict standards environmental advocates sought, despite stated goals of reducing energy consumption by 15% and landscape watering by 50%, the LA Times reported.
The proposed green building code changes will initially be voluntary but are to become mandatory in 2010.
The new buidling standards are less strict than those already in place in 75 California cities and counties, according to John Walser, director of policy and education for the Northern California chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Staff members of Governor Schwarzenegger made last-minute revisions to the new standard, so that it would not preempt these tougher regulations.
Under the new rules, localities can adopt tougher standards, if they wish. But Nick Zigelbaum, an energy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said many localities are likely to see the new standard as a ceiling, instead of a floor to build upon.
"NRDC has many concerns regarding the stringency of this code and its market impacts," Zigelbaum said. "This code [is] a step forward for the state, creating a solid floor from which to build up; the really hard work is yet to come."
California law requires the state to reduce its global warming emissions by 30% over projected amounts in the next 12 years.
Nationwide, buildings consume 39% of energy, 12% of potable water, and 40% of raw materials, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. The structures are also responsible for 39% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Building groups praised the new set of standards, while environmentalists said they will continue to raise the bar.
Schwarzenegger aides also revised a section of the draft, which gave equal weight to wood certified by industry groups as it did to wood certified as sustainably harvested by the Forest Stewardship Council, an environmental nonprofit.
