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Another First for California:
State Adopts a Green Building Code

by Lisa Lilienthal

“I don’t subscribe to the notion that for the environment to be protected, that industry has to suffer,” says Secretary of the California State and Consumer Services Agency (SCSA) Rosario Marin. “And vice versa, for industry to thrive, the environment doesn’t have to be in danger. We can have both – a healthy economy and a healthy environment.”

It’s a win/win scenario that Marin says will bring new products, services, jobs, and industries to California. With that in mind, Secretary Marin has advocated widely for reforms – as Secretary of SCSA, as chairwoman of the Governor’s Green Action Team and chair of the California Building Standards Commission.

A place at the table for both industry and the environment are reflected in California’s new green building codes, unanimously adopted by the California Building Standards Commission (a commission under Secretary Marin) on July 17, 2008. The codes, designed to improve energy efficiency, reduce water consumption and lighten the carbon footprint of California’s built environment, will phase-in over a 2 ½  year period, with initial voluntary compliance leading to mandatory compliance in 2011.

Secretary Marin notes that the new green building code - the first enacted by a state -  "sets a floor, not a ceiling" and that builders, cities and counties are encouraged to exceed the standards.

“Once again California is leading the nation and the world in emissions reductions and finding new ways to expand our climate change efforts,” said Secretary Marin. “The commission should be commended for bringing everyone to the table, including representatives of the construction and building trades industry, environmental groups and labor organizations, and achieving something no other state has been able to."  And it was achieved in record time. Codifying green building best practices took a little more than a year and a half, thanks in part to the proliferation of green building programs already in existence.

“We looked at 252 programs, including the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program,” explained Marin, referencing what is commonly viewed as the gold standard for green building. “There is a high level of acceptance for green building programs, and a widely held understanding of our need to conserve resources. Though it was a mammoth task, it is a giant leap forward for our state.” 

The new building code applies to every new structure to be built in California, from hospitals and hotels to homes and schools. Those already familiar with LEED guidelines will find many similarities. (Click here for a side-by-side comparison.)

U.S. Green Building Council President Rick Fedrizzi was among the first to applaud California’s effort, saying: “…The new standards adopted unanimously today by California’s Building Standards Commission are an important step for moving California’s buildings to a higher level of performance.”

California’s Green Building Initiative was launched in 2004 when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-20-04, which calls for the state to lead the way in designing, constructing, renovating and operating its buildings to make them among the most resource-efficient, energy-efficient and healthful public buildings in the nation. It is viewed as an aggressive action in pursuit of goals for energy and resource efficiency in particular, with an objective of reducing electricity purchased from the grid by existing government and private commercial buildings by 10 percent by 2010 and 20 percent by 2015.  

That Executive Order set into motion the process to develop the California Green Building Standards Codes, which now set targets for energy efficiency, water consumption, dual plumbing systems for potable and recyclable water, diversion of construction waste from landfills and use of environmentally sensitive materials in construction and design, including eco-friendly flooring, carpeting, paint, coatings, thermal insulation and acoustical wall and ceiling panels.

Among the many entities impacted by the new codes are schools in California. “It all comes down to good design,” said Rob Cook, executive director of the Office of Public School Construction. “Most school systems will find these standards are readily attainable, and the state school bond program is ready with high performance incentive grants that more than cover the incremental costs of efficiencies that the districts are implementing.” 

While school systems in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other highly populated areas may already be on the leading edge when it comes to green building and energy efficient campuses, Cook acknowledges that it will be incumbent upon his agency to also support the 600-plus districts in the state with fewer than 2,500 students.

“For those districts that don’t have a dedicated facilities department, the superintendent wears multiple hats,” said Cook. “It will be important to bring good design to those communities.”  Ultimately, he says, the new green building codes will translate into energy cost savings and freeing up general and operating funds that can be used for teaching kids. Green building advocates point to recent studies that have linked better indoor air quality with improved learning outcomes, another benefit.

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools’ Executive Director Charles Eley agrees, saying, “With an impressive list of successful demonstration projects, a greater understanding of the challenges facing the planet, and strong leadership from state government, the building community, and environmentalists, it is an ideal time for California to step forward with the Nation’s first state green building standards.” Eley said that California already has more than 25 green schools, with hundreds more under construction, which demonstrate that green building can be cost-effective.

While big cities might be grabbing the green headlines, smaller municipalities have stepped up to the plate as well. Rohnert Park, a city of 43,000 just south of Santa Rosa in California’s wine country, adopted a mandatory green building ordinance in 2007, an ordinance authored by city building official Peter Bruck. Rohnert Park’s ordinances, like others in communities throughout California, actually have a higher threshold for compliance than the new state green building codes. Cities like Rohnert Park are accumulating a knowledge base that should help newcomers up and over the learning curve, says Bruck.

USGBC’s Rick Fedrizzi agrees: “Buildings are our first, best opportunity to reduce energy use and C02 emissions, and greening them must be a critical component of any policy approach that aims to fight climate change. As building codes evolve, it’s also important to ensure that individual builders and communities are free to reach for even higher levels of performance. By specifying that they will in no way preempt local authorities from continuing to lead by example, the new standards adopted unanimously today by California’s Building Standards Commission are an important step for moving California’s buildings to a higher level of performance.” 

In support of this sentiment, Peter Bruck has posted Rhonert Park’s initiative, along with his own  master’s thesis on sustainable and energy efficient communities online.

In August of 2005, the Rohnert Park City Council directed its staff to create a green building ordinance that contained mandatory provisions for all construction within the city. The primary result was an ordinance containing the most comprehensive green building requirements of any local community in California when it became effective July 1, 2007. All new commercial and residential construction, commercial tenant improvements, residential additions more than 500 square feet in area, and city-sponsored projects are subject to the requirements of the ordinance.

“As part of my master’s work, I wrote a narrative process documenting the development of Rohnert Park’s green building ordinance,” says Bruck. “It is essentially a ‘how-to” guide.” Bruck also serves on the California Building Standard Commission’s Green Building Code Advisory Committee, as the group’s building official designee, and participated in a number of focus groups to vet the new state building code.

“I’ve received a lot of calls from communities asking if they should wait until the new green building code is mandatory,” said Bruck. “There’s no universal answer, but the learning curve will take time. I have encouraged communities to do whatever they can now, and to move forward as soon as they can. They will reap the benefits.”

Building owners are equally supportive of the new green building codes. “Our industry is proud that in this state we are already building some of the most efficient buildings in the nation,” said Rex S. Hime, president and CEO of the California Business Properties Association. “A new building built in California is almost 50 percent more energy efficient and emits half the greenhouse gasses of the national average. Now, the state has adopted the first set of green building codes in the nation which will continue to move us towards a more sustainable built environment.”

Hime went on to say, “Our members applaud the Governor for his leadership in encouraging our industry to adopt feasible and cost effective technologies that ultimately will produce some of the most sustainable buildings in the nation. Adopting these codes through the existing iterative standards process is the best and quickest way to bring about this monumental change.”

With the private and public sector on board, what’s next for California when it comes to green building? “We’re already looking at what revisions to the green building code will be made,” said Secretary Marin. “This is just the first step.”


 

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