Originally posted 2017-03-22 13:35:13.
For this week’s Guest Post Friday, Musings welcomes Imad Naffa. Imad was the Founder and President of NAFFA International, a private Building Code Services firm in Fresno, CA. He is also the Developer and Administrator of the Building Code Discussions Group (BCDG), one of the largest building code online communities on the internet with 23,000+ members from 100+ countries.
You can also find him on the web where he posts on topics dealing with Building, Fire and Accessibility /ADA codes, housing and construction; along with news relating to design, construction, LEED/Green/CALGreen and Global Affairs.
You can follow Imad on Twitter (@imadnaffa). If you have technical questions related to Building, Fire, Accessibility/ADA Codes or CALGreen, Imad would be happy to respond by email.
Background
Every three years, the building codes are updated. That in by itself is always a challenging time for all involved in the building permitting process (Owners/Developers, Design Team and the Code Enforcement Community).
In California a new family of building codes, known as the 2010 California Codes, became effective throughout the state on January 1st, 2011.
This time around, a brand new code known as the “2010 California Green Building Standards Code”, aka “CALGreen”, was introduced. This code is Part 11, of the California Code of Regulations, Title 24. It is the nation’s first statewide green building standards code and applies to newly constructed residential and nonresidential occupancies.
CALGreen stems from former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mandate to reduce greenhouse gases in California. Estimates predict a reduction of 3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases by 2020 as a result of the requirements of CALGreen.
CALGreen creates uniform and consistent environmental regulations for new California buildings, but it is not meant to replace individual jurisdictions’ environmental programs and ordinances. The Code requires that all local environmental ordinances still be followed. Local jurisdictions also have the ability to amend portions of the Code based on a finding of need due to climate, topography, or geology. Complementary sustainability programs, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”), may still be used as long as they do not interfere with CALGreen requirements. Some jurisdictions in California had their own Green Codes before CALGreen came about.
