Are you keeping up with Green Building Standards?
As building methods improve, some builders will be left behind by outdated methods. Keep your business growing by using the national standards.
At a June 13-17 meeting at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C., a consensus committee working on updating the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) will evaluate 465 changes to the original 2008 version of the standard proposed by the public.
Initiated in 2007 by the International Code Council and NAHB, the National Green Building Standard was developed by a 42-member consensus committee and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in January 2009, making it the first point-based rating system for green residential construction, remodeling and land development to be approved by ANSI.
More than 2,200 projects have been certified to the standard since its approval by ANSI.
“I think we are seeing in this process that the scope of green building for residential construction and remodeling will be expanded,” said Ray Tonjes, a builder from Austin, Texas, who is serving as vice chairman of the consensus committee.
“We’re looking at refining the point structure in the green scoring system, and refining the practices for renovations and additions,” he said.
Once the committee has completed its work, the newly updated
National Green Building Standard will be submitted to ANSI for approval in 2012.
As an ANSI-approved standard, the document is subject to periodic updates based on consideration of advances in building codes and technology and other developments.
Becoming a Construction Conductor save you time by automating documents and organizing them into an easy-to-use dashboard. Conductors have more time to learn about new developments that affect their business. Don’t be left behind because you don’t have time to learn the new standards.
For residential buildings, four threshold levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald – allow builders to quantify and qualify green building at all levels. At the Emerald level, the highest rating for a residential green building, a building must incorporate energy savings of 60% or more. A free Green Scoring Tool compatible with the standard is available on the certification side of this website.
(Partially excerpted from: http://www.greenbuilttexas.com/industry-news-outside-sources/june-meeting-to-produce-draft-of-2012-national-green-building-standard/.)
The first building in Chicago to make the list is the Willis Tower, the eighth tallest in the world tallest as of December 2011. It was built under the more affectionately known name of the Sears Tower, as it is still commonly referred to by most Chicagoans. Originally completed in 1973, it was 22% and 300 feet taller than the next tallest building of its’ day, far outshadowing all predecessors. The Sears Tower has the had the honorable distinction of being the reigning tallest for a solid 24 years. It was surpassed in 1998, when the Malaysians’ built the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, with the worlds highes two-story bridge on the 41st and 42nd floors. No other building holds that distiction, none even come close. The twin Petronas Towers held the title for only 10 years.
The second Chicago building in the top 15, is the Trump Tower. As number ten on the world’s tallest list it was completed in 2009 and is about 270 feet shorter and has 10 fewer floors than Sears. As modern skyscrapers go the Sears Tower may have a new name but it’s still Sears to me and 37 years later I still find it impressive.