Green Building Laws - Come to the Tri-State Area

By Douglas P. Casper, AIA, LEED AP, CCCA, CCS, MBA, NCARBand

What “Green” Laws are on the Books Now and How Do They Impact the Way We Practice Architecture and Engineering?

Until now, most Green building requirements have been strictly voluntary in nature and, for that reason, unevenly followed. Now, with the advent of sweeping regulations being put forward by New York City, as well as some public authorities, that situation is changing dramatically.

Presently, there are only nine LEED Certified buildings – fewer than one tenth of a percent of the new buildings built here over the last ten years. The reason there are so few is that, aside from the administrative effort required to submit a building plan to the United States Green Building Council as a Registered building, the time and money required discourages the typical building owner from pursuing this option.

Executive Order 111 Impacts New State Buildings

On June 10, 2001, Governor George Pataki signed Executive Order 111 for “Green and Clean” state buildings
and vehicles. This document was prepared by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (www.nyserda.org). The order required that all new building and major renovation projects undertaken by state agencies that were greater than 20,000 square feet in area, must be designed to be the equivalent of a LEED rated building. (Significantly, the order did not require the building plans to be submitted to the USGBC and go through their formal rating process.) Transportation and Industrial buildings were exempted from this ruling.

The Agencies affected by the Order includes: Battery Park City Authority, City University of New York, New York Power Authority, and New York State Public Transportation Authority. Some of the LEED Certified buildings put into service over the last seven years were designed and built under the aegis of some of these agencies.

New Local Law 86 Imposes Higher Standards

Then, on October 3, 2005, The New York City Council passed Local Law 86 (LEED Law). This ruling became effective January 1, 2007, and requires all new building or substantial renovation projects done for city agencies to be Certified as LEED Silver. This involves actually registering the project with the USGBC and, then, working through the certification process with the “Council” until it receives its Certification.

How the New Law Works

Schools, libraries, and medical facilities need not be Silver rated – but must receive at least a LEED Basic rating. Occupancy group G (educational and libraries) and H-2 Occupancies (hospitals and clinics) require only a LEED Basic Rating. Occupant groups A (high hazard), D (industrial), F-2 (grandstands, stadia, etc.), and all group J (residential) are exempted. In addition, all affected buildings must improve energy efficiency and reduce potable water usage. The city has over 1300 buildings and leases over 12.8 million square feet of office space. This legislation will affect $12 billion worth of construction, over the next 10 years.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) developed its own extensive guidelines, referred to as
the Sustainable Design Guidelines (SDG), affecting all the work being done on the World Trade Center Site. In addition, Governor Pataki, in his “swansong,” required all buildings on the site to be the equivalent of LEED Gold Certified buildings.

New Legislation Goes Beyond Existing Building Codes

The “Green and Clean” legislation and Local Law 86 will have a positive affect on the sheer number of “Green” buildings that will get built, going into the future. To appreciate just how extensive these requirements are, consider that, embedded
in the LEED Reference Guides are additional laws and standards that must be followed to be able to build a “Green” building. These additional requirements go well beyond present day building codes.

A good example of that effect is the referenced standards of the American Society of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE). The building codes currently in effect in the states of New York and New Jersey are adaptations of the International Building Code, 2000 Edition. These codes reference ASHRAE 90.2P (ASHRAE 1989): Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential. The New York City Building Code references ASHRAE Handbook - 1987 HVAC Systems and Applications. (The New York City Building Code is known for having out-dated reference standards.)

Now that the city and state agencies are requiring that A/E firms design in accordance with the LEED Reference Guides,
a much higher standard for HVAC equipment is being elicited. Under Energy and Atmosphere Credit 2, LEED-NC, Version 2.2 references ASHRAE 90.1-2004: Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential. This standard requires buildings to be at least 20% more efficient than the older version currently referenced in the 2000 International Building Codes (the I-Codes).

Another example of how the LEED Reference Guides go significantly further than state and municipal codes in effect is in the area of paints. LEED-NC, Version 2.2, under Credit EQ 4.2 – Low Emitting Materials. This credit applied to interior coatings only (site applied and within the weatherproofing system). Flat paints can have a maximum of 50 grams per
liter of volatile organic compounds (voc’s) and non-flats can have a maximum of 150 g/L voc content.

The LEED Guidelines, of course, have extensive requirements in all areas that go significantly beyond state and municipal building code requirements. That is due, largely because building codes take several years to adopt and are by definition always going to be at least a few years behind the current codes and standards. New York City is in the process of revamping their building code, following the I-Code model. Because there are so many quirky features contained within the New York City Building Code, however – the process is being delayed. (The New York City Building Code was supposed to be released January 1, 2007 – but, alas, it was not.)

The latest decisions made by our area politicians to adopt and embrace the new “Green” building Guidelines as part of these requirements is a major decision and one that should be applauded. Governmental entities must help as much as they can to facilitate the change process because, like with anything in life – there are going to be “growing pains.”

This new direction should be applauded by the design community because it affords it the best opportunity, yet, to engage in the design and construction of “Green” buildings on a larger scale than was previously possible.