[NEWS] Program Recap: The Future of Buildings: CALgreen

By: Whitney Peabody

On January 20, SMPS BAC hosted its first program of 2011 at Le Meridien, San Francisco, to discuss CALGreen, the 2010 California Green Building Mandatory Standard Codes.  The panel of experts included: Rich Chien, Department of the Environment, City and County of San Francisco; Mike Nearman, Architectural Associate, California Building Standards Commission; and Kirsten Ritche, Principal/Director of Sustainability,  Gensler.

What does the legislation mean for the A/E/C industry?

CalGreen means rethinking the way we approach projects.  As building performance expectations increase, along with standard building codes, more participation from sub-consultants is required at an early stage.  Designs need to be treated holistically, taking consideration from all disciplines to ensure an efficient and successful project.

“Can you say integrated project delivery?” – Kirsten Ritchie

What are requirements, regulations, and cost impacts?

Effective January 1, 2011, CALGreen is now mandatory.  It is not an elective goal to be decided on by design professionals, it is the new baseline for California.  While it may share similarities, and even overlap in some ways with third-party rating systems like LEED® and GreenPoints, with CALGreen, all 20 measures are imperatives.

CALGreen’s 20 mandatory measures are spread across the following five categories:

• Planning and Design
• Energy Efficiency
• Water Efficiency and Conservation
• Material Conservation and Resource Efficiency
• Environmental Quality

Beyond these mandatory measures, voluntary “Tiers,” which include measures such as 15-30% energy reduction compared to Title 24 or 10-15% recycled content, may be adopted by different cities or counties as mandatory. 

When it comes to fees, CALGreen isn’t necessarily changing project fees; but it is changing the place where fees get paid.  Involving more consultants earlier in the design process means more soft-costs up-front.  Project Managers need to be judicious with the use of team-members’ time early-on and provide Realistic cost estimates. 

Who is affected, which projects are affected and in what way?

CALGreen applies to new construction only, for non-residential and residential projects less than four stories.  Over the few next years, CALGreen codes are expected to roll-out for areas like tenant improvement and existing buildings, but for now, the following are exempt from CALGreen: High-rise buildings, OSHPD, Existing Buildings and Mixed-Use Buildings. 

Who is qualified to prepare documentation?

No big changes here, as always, a licensed Architect and/or Engineer is required to provide verification of green building compliance.  The only difference is that unlike LEED, there doesn’t need to be a third-party consultant on the project to mandate a score card or prepare documentation.

Summary:

While each panelist spoke to different aspects of the new code, what they all agreed on was that CALGreen is a great thing.  While the main goal of CALGreen is to reduce GHG emissions from buildings to meet the requirements of AB32, it truly does so much more.  Not only does CALGreen promote environmentally responsible and healthier places to live, but it raises the bar for what we accept as standard practices.  CALGreen encourages our industry leaders to be creative, to continually push boundaries and set the bar higher and, ultimately, to continue to get better at what they do best: build.

For more information on CALGreen:

Building Standards Commission: www.bsc.ca.gov/CALGreen

Residential: www.hcd.ca.gov/CALGreen.html


Read more from The Shortlist Q1 (pdf)