Committee on the Environment

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  • 1.  IGCC: Effects on the Profession

    Posted 10-21-2010 09:52 AM
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    This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Committee on the Environment and Practice Management Member Conversations .
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    The AIA's participation in the development of the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) has revealed two distinct areas for examination and action. The first is the technical side, the content of the code, and just how green the new green minimum will be. The other aspect, one that may elicit the most passionate response by architects to the new code, is the professional practice side of the equation. What happens when we take what has been essentially a best-practices approach to design and turn it into the minimum requirement for every project for every practicing architect? While the technical content will be battled out among the myriad of industry stakeholders (including the AIA) that already engage in the code development process, perhaps even more important are the potential legal and practice related pitfalls.


    When public version 2 is released by the ICC in a little over two weeks, AIA will be combing through the text, which incorporates changes made by the Public Comment Committee's dispositions during the first public hearing, but there are a number of important issues that we can already start examining in detail in preparation for the second version.  They include, but are not limited to: 

    • the role of the design professional in responsible charge in the code
    • potential standard of care changes
    • additional responsibility, risk and liability
    • expanding the notion of health, safety and welfare to incorporate 'green' principles

    There are others big-picture items  to be identified, (please do so in this discussion!) as well as a number of detailed analyses to be done.  This forum is intended for discussion of these items.

    Link to the report from the first public hearing:

    http://www.iccsafe.org/cs/IGCC/Documents/PublicComments0810/IGCC2010ROH.pdf? 
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    Jessyca Henderson AIA
    Director of Sustainability Advocacy
    The American Institute of Architects
    Baltimore MD
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    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    IGCC-PV15.pdf   1.89 MB 1 version
    AIA26 San Diego June 10-13


  • 2.  RE:IGCC: Effects on the Profession

    Posted 10-22-2010 08:07 AM
    Protecting the Health, Safety, & Welfare of the public is the sole purpose of our licensing. Indoor air quality issues of the 80s with "sick building syndrome" is a perfect example of what happens when we try to do a better job insulating without understanding the consequences of over doing it. We have come a long way since then. I personally believe this fear of legal recourse over improving code to improve the quality and efficiency of our buildings may be based on half baked attempts at sustainability during a time period when hatred of the environment was very popular, as business was far more important than our existence or our planet. 

    Asbestos and other banned products are not examples of better Architectural practices causing problems, but a result of unregulated production of materials and products being specified by US. If anything, we need more emphasis on controlling the quality of products we use in our buildings and this will reduce our liability, not increase it. Assuming that the status quo is acceptable and bettering ourselves is too risky are the words of a follower, not a leader! We have followed the followers for too long and now it's time to lead!

    The USGBC and other agencies have meticulously studied sustainability practices with real buildings for over a decade and we now have a much better understanding of how to create healthier buildings. What's the problem with enforcing laws that encourage paint companies to produce less harmful products? What's the problem with enforcing laws that require better indoor air quality? How do these proven methods of improving the healthiness of our buildings create a fear of law suits among design professionals? 

    Continuing to use harmful products created by irresponsible companies should be our fear. Designing buildings that ignore sustainability practices should be our fear, as these are the building that harbor mold, off gas toxins, and generate unnecessary amounts of heat gain/loss that cause us to burn twice as many dinosaur bones to make them comfortable. 

    Are we not creative enough to design beautiful buildings without lousy excuses about the oppression of sustainability? I find sustainability practices have opened up a whole new world of design opportunities, as Louis Sullivan said, "form follows function."

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    Eric Rawlings AIA
    Owner
    Rawlings Design, Inc.
    Decatur GA
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    AIA26 San Diego June 10-13