ATLANTA - The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) launched the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes. The IGCC provides the building industry with language that both broadens and strengthens building codes in a way that will accelerate the construction of high performance green buildings across the United States.

For decades, ICC and ASHRAE have worked to develop codes and standards that become the industry standard of care for the design, construction, operations, and maintenance of residential and commercial buildings in the United States and internationally. In coordination with the efforts of ICC and ASHRAE, USGBC has been leading a nationwide green building movement centered on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System since LEED was launched in 2000.

According to the associations, the convergence of these efforts in the IGCC is perhaps the most significant development in the buildings industry in the past 10 years.

Leveraging ICC’s delivery infrastructure to reach all 50 states and more than 22,000 local jurisdictions, and ASHRAE, USGBC and IES’ technical strengths, this partnership is expected to accelerate the proliferation of green building codes and standards developed jointly by ICC, ASHRAE, USGBC, and IES across the country and around the globe. The newly launched IGCC establishes a previously unimaginable regulatory framework for the construction of high performance commercial buildings that are safe, sustainable, and by the book.

A landmark addition to the technical content of the IGCC is the inclusion of ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, as an alternate path of compliance.

“The emergence of green building codes and standards is an important next step for the green building movement, establishing a much-needed set of baseline regulations for green buildings that is adoptable, usable, and enforceable by jurisdictions,” said Richard Weiland, ICC CEO. “The IGCC provides a vehicle for jurisdictions to regulate green for the design and performance of new and renovated buildings in a manner that is integrated with existing codes as an overlay, allowing all new buildings to reap the rewards of improved design and construction practices.”

On March 15, ASHRAE, IES, and USGBC joined ICC at its Washington headquarters as they and their co-authors, the American Institute of Architects and the American Society for Testing Materials, launched the IGCC.

For more information, visit www.intlcode.org.

Publication date: 03/29/2010