Saying the gap between existing construction codes and the green rating systems has been filled, the International Code Council (ICC) is encouraging the U.S. government to reference the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) in an effort to apply sustainable design principals to the design and construction of new federal buildings.

“Prior to this year, voluntary ‘rating’ type programs were among the only options for guiding the design of green buildings,” said Code Council CEO Rick Weiland at a U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) public hearing. “Such programs, including LEED, were not designed to act as regulatory language. The gap between existing codes and rating systems has now been filled… [and] are now available to address federal goals as well as meet the needs of state and local jurisdictions.”

The IGCC says that industry support signals a consensus for the necessity of a code to guide green construction. In addition to the Code Council, sponsors include the American Institute of Architects (AIA), ASTM International, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Illuminating Engineering Society. It also has the support of more than 2,000 professional organizations and individuals.

“Our colleagues at the USGBC, which originated the LEED standard, have publicly called for the adoption of the IGCC and described this new set of tools as allowing new versions of LEED to appropriately act as the ‘ceiling’ in green construction while the IGCC serves as the ‘floor,’” Weiland said. “In short, the IGCC is the result of a collaborative effort of hundreds of green building experts, integrating their work into a usable, enforceable document addressing every type of building, in a manner that is flexible enough to meet the needs of diverse jurisdictions.”

Not a rating system, it incorporates a new concept, project electives, designed to encourage and drive the construction of buildings that exceed the already stringent minimum requirements of the code, much like rating systems do. In addition, it contains other features that allow jurisdictions to customize and tailor the code to address environmental concerns of a local nature and to respond to environmentally related political agendas.

Often, even at their higher performance thresholds, most green and sustainable building rating systems offer many choices to the owner and designer, but do not require increased performance in those specific areas, which the jurisdiction may feel are critical. The IGCC, however, provides jurisdictions with a document that allows them to specify enhanced building performance in many specific critical areas of concern, including energy, water, natural resource and material conservation.

The IGCC uses the concept of project electives to encourage the consideration and implementation of various environmentally effective practices, which may not be suitable for every building and, therefore, may not be suitable as strictly mandatory requirements.

The IGCC does not require that all project electives be complied with, it requires that a minimum number of project electives be complied with on each project, and allows the owner or design professional to select which ones are to be implemented on each project.