The International Green Construction Code (IgCC) recently celebrated its first anniversary, and it has already been adopted by state and/or local jurisdictions in at least nine states. I believe this year will be crucial for IgCC because while the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is raising its minimum thresholds, the appeal to governments of a building code rather than a rating system could become clearer.
The jurisdictions that have adopted the IgCC—Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington—for the most part have adopted it as a voluntary standard or an optional compliance path to meeting the applicable green building code for that jurisdiction. For example, Rhode Island and Keene, New Hampshire adopted IgCC as one of several compliance standards for meeting green building requirements.