Compare green building standards

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Green Building Standards – this page on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s website allows you to compare characteristics of six green building standards:

  • International Code Council’s 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC)
  • ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011: Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (ASHRAE 189.1)
  • ICC 700-2012: 2012 National Green Building Standard (ICC 700)
  • Green Globes™
  • US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®)
  • The International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge™, version 2.1 (May 2012)

Simply check the ‘Compare’ box after each standard you’re interested in, click the ‘Compare’ button at the bottom, and you get an easy-to-read chart comparing things like applicable building and project types, subject areas, community adoption and use, certification and compliance process, and relationship to other standards.

I saw this via the EPA’s Smart Growth listserv, maintained by the EPA Office of Sustainable Communities.  Another resource they point to is their page on Location where you can find information on efficient siting, smart growth tools (like Smart Location Database), awards, publications, and a link to their Location Affordability Portal.  This last is designed to help householders, real estate professionals, planners, policy-makers, developers, and researchers to “better understand the impact of transportation costs on [housing] affordability.”