When you think of ways to help the environment, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind isn’t the process by which buildings are, well, built. Yet the state of California has been taking such things into consideration and amazingly enough came to a unanimous decision on Friday. The California Building Standards Commission has announced adoption of a statewide green building code, the very first in the nation.
So exactly what is a green building code you ask? In its simplest form it’s a new set of standards designed to take aim at the practices of current building construction that are less than ideal for the environment. These new standards will, among other things, call for a 20% improvement in water use efficiency (for both residential and commercial plumbing fixtures) as well as a 50% increase in conservation for water used for landscaping purposes.
The new code will also require all new construction to reduce energy consumption by 15%.
Heading up this movement is none other than Arnold “The Governator†Schwarzenegger who also introduced an order on Friday directing state agencies to reduce energy consumption for all state-owned buildings 20% by 2015.
California hopes the rest of the country will take note and perhaps consider passing similar indicatives aimed at protecting the environment.
