New Green Building Standard in the Works

A proposed new standard that will provide minimum guidelines for green building practice is nearly complete and has been released to the public for review and comment.

Comments will be accepted through July 9 at www.ashrae.org/publicreviews. The standard is being developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNAO) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Standard 189P (Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings) will provide a baseline for sustainable design, construction and operations in order to drive green building into mainstream building practices. It will apply to new commercial buildings and major renovation projects and will address areas of performance including energy efficiency, materials and resources, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable site selection, water usage and indoor environmental quality.

Standard 189P is being developed using the USGBC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, which addresses the top 25 percent of building practice, as a resource. Upon completion, Standard 189P will be an ANSI-accredited standard that can be incorporated into building code. It is intended that the standard will eventually become a prerequisite for LEED certification.

More information is available by at www.ashrae.org.