The former head of the U.S. Green Building Council says the Biden Administration’s formation of the National Building Performance Standards Coalition is a “tremendous” step in the right direction to raise building performance standards in the U.S.
This action, along with an effort to boost sustainability on federal properties, has the “potential to merge federal leadership and fiscal resources with lower governments’ capacities for experimentation and execution,” writes Mahesh Ramanujam, former USGBC CEO. The coalition could achieve much while circumventing gridlock on Capitol Hill, he says.
The coalition, a partnership between the White House and 33 state and local governments, aims to deliver cleaner, healthier, and more affordable buildings by advancing building performance policies in each of the members’ jurisdictions by Earth Day 2024.
The coalition recognizes that there is no “one-size-fits-all” standard when it comes to standards and codes for buildings. Differences in climates and environments, energy resource distributions, material supply chains, legacy building stock compositions, community preferences, market dynamics, and other variables add complexity.
Taking these variables into account could make code development more effective locally, but on the other hand, Ramanujam adds, the lack of a true national building performance standard may limit its impact.
Related Stories
Building Team | Jun 22, 2017
Seven lessons learned on commissioning projects
Commissioning is where the rubber meets the road in terms of building design.
Sponsored | Building Team | Jun 20, 2017
Plan ahead when building in the west
Getting a project through plan review can be an unusually long process, anywhere from six months to two years.
Architects | May 9, 2017
Movers + Shapers: The social connector
Studio Gang gains fans with buildings that unite people and embrace the outside world.
Sponsored | Building Team | May 8, 2017
The builder is the building: Finding the right builder
The most important factor in making sure the where, when, what, and how go smoothly is making sure you pick the right who.
Architects | May 3, 2017
Avoiding trouble in paradise: Tips on building successfully in the Caribbean
The island setting itself is at the root of several of these disruptive assumptions.
Libraries | Apr 7, 2017
Eight recipients selected for the 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
Columbus Metropolitan Library, National Library of Latvia, and Varina Area Library were all honored by the AIA and ALA.
K-12 Schools | Apr 7, 2017
Is an alternative project delivery method right for your K-12 school district?
With California’s increasingly busy—and costly—construction market, it’s becoming more difficult to predict costs with a typical design-bid-build delivery method.
Market Data | Apr 6, 2017
Architecture marketing: 5 tools to measure success
We’ve identified five architecture marketing tools that will help your firm evaluate if it’s on the track to more leads, higher growth, and broader brand visibility.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Apr 5, 2017
Informed design: A dynamic approach to athletic facilities design
With the completion of the athletic facility upgrade—dubbed the Arden Project—students will have access to state-of-the-art facilities.
Building Team | Apr 4, 2017
Dispelling five myths about post-occupancy evaluations
Many assume that post-occupancy (POE) is a clearly-defined term and concept, but the meaning of POE in practice remains wildly inconsistent.
