Leading the nation in environmental initiative once again, the California Building Standards Commission has unanimously approved the country’s first green building code for all new structures—from homes to businesses, schools to hospitals—built in California.
As part of its goal to curb emissions by 2020, the new standard is voluntary for now, but will become mandatory in 2010. This green code looks to decrease each new project’s carbon footprint, reducing energy use by 15 percent and landscape water use by 50 percent. It will also mandate that more recycled materials be used during construction.
Read the whole story here on Architectural Record's website.
We know that California is usually the most progressive state and often initiates things like this first...makes me wonder how long it will be before other states, especially here in the south, will follow their lead.
Just yesterday (July 22, 2008) we visited what is expected to be the first LEED certified building in Forsyth County, the Family Services building on S. Broad St., on a field trip for the ARC 230 Environmental Systems class.
We really do have an opportunity here in the South, with this curriculum and its dedication to keeping sustainability front-and-center, to be part of the South's catching up with the wave of sustainable building design.
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