Paint and Coatings Industry News

Main News Page

Work Resumes on Green-Building Standard

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The newly expanded committee charged with writing the nation’s first standard on high-performing green buildings has resumed work on the proposed standard, and convened Jan. 27 during the 2009 Winter Conference of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in Chicago.

The committee is writing proposed Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The panel has been expanded to 34 voting members after a recent call for members to broaden the variety of industries, designers and code officials participating.

“The new committee roster brings a wide spectrum of green building expertise to bear on the standard’s content in keeping with ASHRAE’s commitment to excellence in consensus standards development. ASHRAE and its partners look forward to working with the new committee to develop guidance that will minimize a building’s impact on the environment, said Kent Peterson, chairman of the Standard 189.1 committee and an ASHRAE presidential member.

Proposed Standard 189 is being developed by ASHRAE in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The standard is described as the first code-intended green-building standard in the U.S.

Aimed at providing minimum criteria for green-building practices, the standard is applicable to new commercial buildings and major renovation projects, ASHRAE said. When completed, it will address energy efficiency, a building’s impact on the atmosphere, sustainable sites, water use efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality, among other high-performance green-building issues.

The proposed standard has generated substantial public interest, with more than 900 comments received during each of two previous public reviews. It is anticipated that the standard will undergo a new full public review in the near future as technical guidance and input is offered by new committee members, ASHRAE said.