Development of Unified Sustainable Building Standards

With the demand for green buildings on the rise, leading design-build professional organizations are working to devise a single set of standards for sustainable buildings.

According to a McGraw Hill Construction SmartMarket global survey, 51 percent of design-build professionals expect that the design and construction of green buildings constitute over 60 percent of their firm’s work. Currently, the standards architects, engineers, construction firms, and local building code officials need to guide their work are contained in three separate manuals:
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES/USGBC Standard 189.1, the International Green Construction Code, and the U.S. Green Building Council LEED Program. Given the growth in demand for green buildings, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has established a goal for the industry to integrate these different sets of standards into a single set of guidelines, according to a recent article in Civil and Structural Engineer. Their rationale is that a streamlined and unified set of industry standards will make the process of establishing building ordinances easier for municipal lawmakers as well as planning and zoning officials.

Collaborative Effort among Leaders in Sustainable Design and Building

The working group tasked with developing the single set of standards includes representatives from ASHRAE, AIA, the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), and the U. S. Green Building program. Their strategy is to position the ANSI Standard 189.1 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings as the consensus standard and then the International Code Council will then frame the standard as model building codes that local governments can adopt. Once the initial standards are released, the plan is to update the standards every three years.