April 15, 2010

In January, California adopted the first statewide mandatory green building standards in the nation. Known as CALGreen, the code sets a new framework for recognizing and codifying an important set of risks to public health and safety not previously considered or addressed in the State's code of regulations. The code, effective in January 2011, slashes water use, mandates the recycling of construction waste, and cuts back on polluting materials in new homes, schools, hospitals and commercial buildings statewide.

The sweeping changes will affect "the whole fabric of how buildings are built by integrating green practices into our everyday building code," said David Walls, Executive Director of the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC), in a recent story in the LA Times.

Jeremy Sigmon, Manager of Building Codes Advocacy at the U.S. Green Building Council's headquarters in Washington, D.C., asked him for his further thoughts on this precedent-setting move.

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Source: USGBC