A round of applause for California! In an effort to trim statewide emissions by 1/3 by 2020, the state of California recently adopted CALGREEN, the first mandatory state-wide green building code in the country. The code was unanimously passed by the California Building Standards Commission and will take effect on January 1st, 2011. The building codes cover everything from construction waste recycling to indoor air quality standards.
Photo by Clinton Steeds
The state-wide building code declares that construction sites must recycle 50 percent of their waste, reduce water consumption by 20 percent, and install separate indoor and outdoor water meters on non-residential buildings in the hope that they will cut water use significantly. The code also states that only low-emission indoor finishing products can be used such as low-VOC paints, carpets and flooring. The codes will be regulated by local agencies that currently regulate other building measures in California and the state is hoping that it will be an easy transition towards greener buildings.
Above and beyond the mandatory codes there are voluntary goals for buildings to reach for an even higher green standard. California is hoping these codes will help make greening buildings easier by unifying the system. We solute their efforts and hope that CALGREEN is a roaring success!
+ CALGREEN
Via Green Inc.
Mmhm, way to go, California! It ought to be second-nature to build green in all new construction projects! I also think it’s so important in the current enviropolitical climate, with the current lack of confidence in federal and international environmental agreement, to see subnational governments taking the lead. Governor Schwarzeneggar talked about local leadership in Copenhagen and I think it’s really excellent that it wasn’t just talk; way to follow through!
Brooke H.
Renewable Power Solutions, Inc.
San Jose, CA
http://rps-solar.com/blog
This is good, California is a big, heavily populated, sunny state. Now if we can just get apartment complexes to start recycling…
[...] some states, like California, have had energy efficiency requirements in building codes for a long time, most states have little or no requirements for reducing energy use. The [...]