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California continues to take the national lead in environmental protection. The California Building Standards Commission voted unanimously this week to approve the first statewide green building code.

Taking effect January 2011, the nation's first mandatory green building code – dubbed "CalGreen" – lays out specific constraints for newly constructed buildings. It requires builders to install plumbing that cuts indoor water use by as much as 20 percent, to divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills to recycling, and to use low-pollutant paints, carpets, and floors.

It also mandates inspection of energy systems to ensure that heaters, air conditioners, and other mechanical equipment are working efficiently. And for non-residential buildings, it requires the installation of water meters for different uses.

The code also allows local jurisdictions, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, to retain stricter green building standards, if they already exist, or to adopt stricter versions of the state code if they choose. It's the first state in the nation to mandate a green building code.

Environmental and green building groups largely welcomed the new code, though they took issue with certain aspects of it.

"We applaud the state of California for being the first state in the country to raise the floor on acceptable, green building standards," said Jason Hartke, vice president of national policy for the US Green Building Council, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit.

He adds that the statewide standards adopted will "significantly save water and energy, improve indoor air quality, and create jobs at the same time."

Buildings represent 40 percent of all carbon emissions and over 70 percent of electricity use, Mr. Hartke notes, and the new standards thus would help California meet emissions targets under its new global warming law.


Meeting New Emissions Targets
The law, AB32, requires the California Air Resources Board to develop regulations and market mechanisms to ultimately reduce California's greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. Mandatory caps for significant sources of emissions will begin in 2012.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/california-adopts-statewide-green-bui
lding-code/story?id=9638290