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
| Aug 11, 2010
Burwell Architects, Ziegler Cooper Architects announce merger
Ziegler Cooper Architects is pleased to announce that Burwell Architects has merged into the Corporate Interior Studio of Ziegler Cooper Architects. We believe the new relationship will enhance and expand the services we can provide to our clients.
| Aug 11, 2010
KlingStubbins and Tocci awarded GSA contract for nationwide BIM services
KlingStubbins and Tocci Building Corporation announced they have been selected as a prime contractor team to participate in a $30M, five-year contract to provide Building Information Modeling (BIM) Services for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
| Aug 11, 2010
Sika Sarnafil announces 2009 Project of the Year winners
Sika Sarnafil announced winners of the second annual Sika Sarnafil Roof Consultant Project of the Year competition today. First place was awarded to SRI Consultants, Inc., of Middleton, WI; second place to INSPEC, Inc., of Minneapolis, MN; and Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger of Los Angeles, California, won the third place honor. The competition recognizes and celebrates excellence in roofing design.
| Aug 11, 2010
Kingspan insulated panels showcase net-zero energy modeling
Kingspan Insulated Panels, Inc. is demonstrating energy modeling programs to illustrate how far Envelope First Strategies could advance beyond Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Energy Code and the Department of Energy (DOE) Net-Zero Energy goal of 2025. Kingspan will showcase the models in their exhibit (#954) during the Greenbuild 2009 International Conference and Expo, November 11-13 in Phoenix.
| Aug 11, 2010
Green Guide for Health Care launches pilot program, looks for participants
In first quarter 2010, the Green Guide for Health Care, in collaboration with Practice Greenhealth, is launching a one-year Green Guide for Health Care Operations Pilot Program for healthcare organizations engaged in any or all aspects of green operations initiatives, based on Green Guide v2.2 Operations section.
| Aug 11, 2010
Sustainable Buildings as Teaching Tools: 4 Strategies for Integrating Buildings into Experiential Learning
4 Strategies for Integrating Buildings into Experiential Learning
| Aug 11, 2010
Report: Most data centers are too cold
A recent study (PDF) by server and computing giants shows that data centers are wasting energy-and money-by over-cooling their servers, according to a story in The Register.
| Aug 11, 2010
New landscape rating system launches, completes green building puzzle
On November 5, 2009, the Sustainable Sites Initiative released the nation's first rating system for the design, construction and maintenance of sustainable landscapes, with or without buildings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Las Vegas announces Green Building Rebate Program
The city of Las Vegas announced it will begin a Green Building Rebate Program to stimulate new green building construction and provide energy efficiency retrofits to existing buildings. The green building program provides rebates for new construction and existing commercial and residential retrofits for buildings who construct buildings or projects to green building program standards.
