It has been almost one month since the City of Phoenix adopted a voluntary green construction code to promote energy efficiency and sustainability in construction activities.
A keystone of the code is that both new and old projects can achieve the green standard without paying third-party fees; costly fees can often prevent projects from getting off the ground.
“Those who choose to ‘go green’ will have their projects reviewed and inspected to this standard,” says Michael Hammett, spokesman for the City of Phoenix in a statement. “There are no extra fees for plan review or permits.”
All those seeking certification must follow strict prerequisites before the city will certify the building as “green.” The code was enforced starting July 1 — although it may be too early to tell how effective it has been.
Phoenix is one of the first cities in the nation to implement such a code, according to a statement from city officials.
The city has set its aim high to attempt to mitigate waste and save energy.
The Phoenix Green Construction Code goals include:
- Encourage the reduction of the building’s eco-footprint
- Improve indoor air quality
- 20 percent mandatory reduction of indoor water use
- 15 percent mandatory reduction of energy use
- Require that at least two percent of the building’s annual electrical use be produced by renewable energy materials
- Encourage the implementation of green roofs, brown roofs and reflective roofs
- Divert 30 percent of construction waste from landfills
The Phoenix Green Code was modeled after the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) and the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) for residential construction, a city news release said.
Commercial buildings will only have one type of IGCC certification, and residential buildings could have up to four, based on the NGBS standard.
This building code was created out of the Phoenix Green Building program and funded by grants from the Department of Energy.
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