by Brianna Crandall — July 13, 2015—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently announced the availability of a new path forward for California project developers seeking certification under the USGBC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) green building certification program. The USGBC commended California for being a “standard bearer for excellence in green building market transformation” for its sustainability initiatives and involvement.
Starting July 1, nonresidential projects in California subject to the mandatory 2013 California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen) requirements will be able to use an alternative documentation path for LEED certification. CALGreen is the nation’s first statewide mandatory green building code, covering nearly all residential and nonresidential construction in California. This new path will make beyond-code green building leadership even more accessible as the state continues to set more aggressive targets for energy and water efficiency.
The alternative documentation path outlines a set of documents that projects may provide in lieu of standard LEED documentation in order to demonstrate LEED compliance. The alternative documentation path will be available for use with measures related to indoor water use reduction, refrigerant management, the storage and collection of recyclables, construction waste management and the use of low-emitting paints and adhesives.
“The development and release of this set of alternative documentation pathways is a significant step in the co-evolution of LEED and green building codes,” said Jeremy Sigmon, director of Technical Policy, USGBC. “Leveraging California’s code infrastructure and the obligations of licensed professionals to adhere to the laws of the land, these new streamlined documentation options offer cost savings to project teams while maintaining the quality and rigor of LEED. In turn, projects already designing and building to the CALGreen code will find LEED and its many benefits more readily within reach.”
