Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 11 November 2018: ASHRAE has announced the release of the ‘2018 International Green Construction Code’ (2018 IgCC), through a Press communiqué. The 2018 IgCC is a joint initiative of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), International Code Council (ICC), ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the communiqué said.

According to ASHRAE, the 2018 IgCC aligns the technical requirements of ‘ANSI/ASHRAE/ICC/USGBC/IES 189.1-2017-Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings except Low Rise Residential Buildings’, with ICC’s multi-stakeholder IgCC. Goals of the updated code are to help governments streamline code development and adoption and improve building industry standardisation by integrating the two previously separate guidance documents. As a result, the 2018 IgCC is now a unified code that emphasises adoption, ease of use and enforcement for building projects.

Commenting on the code, Sheila J Hayter, President, ASHRAE, said: “The 2018 IgCC leverages ASHRAE’s technical expertise to offer a comprehensive tool that has a direct effect on how Green Building strategies are implemented. Improving energy efficiency, building performance and indoor air quality are at the core of ASHRAE’s mission and we are encouraged by the impact of this landmark model towards realising more a sustainable future for us all.”

As a standing project committee, ASHRAE SSPC 189.1 updated the technical aspects of Standard 189.1-2014 using ASHRAE’s continuous maintenance procedures, the communiqué said. The final set of changes to the 2017 edition of Standard 189.1 provided the foundation for ICC to develop the administrative procedures for the technical content and codify the document into the 2018 IgCC, the communiqué further said.

“Building safety codes help our communities prepare for the future,” said Dominic Sims, CEO, International Code Council. “Taking into account the latest technologies and cost-effective strategies for dealing with resource scarcity, the IgCC helps cities, states and countries build stronger, smarter, sustainably and more resiliently.”

Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO, USGBC, said, “Our hope is that building professionals and policymakers alike adopt better, greener building strategies that help them better implement LEED and achieve higher performance in sustainability.”