Charles Russell, May 9, 2011
I recently spent a week in Sacramento at the Green California Summit. The intent of the expo was to provide the attendees with information about green solutions.
Read on and you’ll get more details about a section of CALGreen that was repealed.
The first day was very busy. IN the morning, I presented an “Introduction to CALGreen” seminar with about 170 attendees. That afternoon, I gave another seminar, titled “CALGreen Commercial Requirements” with about 120 attendees. At the conclusion of the morning seminar, we held a panel discussion with the Building Official from the City of Davis and one representative from the Building Standards Commission. This allowed the audience an opportunity to ask questions from officials enforcing the new code.
I spent the second day in the main hall meeting the many vendors who were offering all types of green products and services. There was everything from electric cars to recycled paint, artificial grass to solar powered trash compactors. With my focus on building codes, I found it interesting and surprising what is being development in the “green” world.
On the third day, I was part of a panel discussion discussing CALGreen interpretation and implementation. The panel consisted of Dave Walls, Executive Director of the Building Standards Commission; Doug Hensel, Assistant Chief of the Housing Standards Section of the Department of Housing and Community Development; Theresa Townsend, A.I.A., who leads policy efforts related to CALGreen for the Division of the State Architect; and Mark Johnson, President of the International Code Council Evaluation Service. These individuals are instrumental in the development and implementation of the new CALGreen code. They provided some unique insight into the State’s development of the new code as well as what the future holds for CALGreen.
CALGreen Section Repealed
During this panel discussion, it was communicated that the Building Standards Commission (BSC) has taken some urgent action to repeal Section 5.106 (Light Pollution) of the CALGreen code. The BSC created an amendment to resolve issues and provide clarity with this section. Here is the website for your reference:
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/prpsd_chngs/pc_emrrm.html
Here is some more ifnormation on the revision to the code:
California Building Standards Commission (BSC)
Amend Part 11, Chapter 5, Section 5.106.8 Light Pollution Reduction, California Green Building Standards Code regulations. (BSC EF 01-11)
Emergency standards pertaining to Light Pollution Reduction regulations in Part 11, CGC