April 2022 / Vol. 27 No. 4
This article first appeared in the Building Safety Journal, an online publication of the International Code Council. It is reprinted with permission.
By Ryan Colker, Vice President of Innovation, International Code Council
Buildings are the backbones of communities and are essential to realizing sustainability and resilience goals. However, communities need tools to implement policies that drive progress effectively. Codes are one of those tools.
Codes at the Core
Building codes are finally getting the recognition they deserve as strong mechanisms to improve communities and effectively deliver safe, sustainable, and resilient buildings and communities. The congressionally established National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) found that the regular adoption of the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC) provides an $11 benefit for every $1 invested. Multiple participants can realize advantages, including developers, occupants, lenders, and the community. Additionally, applying up-to-date codes can help avoid the need for repair or rebuilding after a disaster, resulting in savings of approximately 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Stakeholders can find further carbon savings by applying building energy codes like the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The U.S. Department of Energy found that the residential provisions of the 2021 IECC provide energy savings of 9.4% and carbon savings of 8.7% over the 2018 edition.
These updates also lead to job creation and consumer savings. Updates to the 2021 IECC can generate more than 22,000 jobs in the first year and 632,000 jobs cumulatively over 30 years while saving the average homeowner $2,320 over the life of a typical mortgage. Since the 2006 edition, the IECC has delivered savings of nearly 40 percent. Since 2009, improvements in commercial and residential provisions have resulted in 700 million metric tons of carbon emissions avoided. Energy codes can also deliver significant resilience benefits, including enhanced social resilience through reduced energy burdens for low- and moderate-income households and protection from extreme heat or cold events.
The content of the codes reflects considerable improvement, but their adoption is not uniform. Per the U.S. Department of Energy and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, about half of the states have either no energy conservation code adopted statewide or have adopted older code editions that are roughly 20 percent less efficient than the current editions.
To help encourage states and localities to capture the energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in the 2021 IECC, the International Code Council (ICC) launched the Code on a Mission campaign with a dozen supporting organizations. The goal is to have about one-third of the U.S. covered by energy codes meeting or exceeding the 2021 IECC by the end of 2023.
Making Continued Progress
The ICC board of directors approved a new energy and carbon framework in March 2021 that sets our priorities to deliver these tools. The framework includes a new scope and intent for future editions of the IECC requiring continual improvement in energy savings from edition to edition. The framework also contains provisions that lead to zero-energy buildings today and by 2030.
ICC is also developing resource documents that sit alongside the codes and provide communities with pathways to implement additional energy efficiency or GHG reduction policies — the first of which covers electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
How we construct buildings, including the materials used and the construction process, can significantly reduce energy use and GHG emissions associated with building operations.
ICC recently announced its intent to develop a standard that supports measuring and verifying GHG emissions across the building life cycle, including materials, construction processes, and operations. This standard will help designers, building owners, and governments consistently understand the true impact of buildings and support decision-making across all building performance attributes.
Off-site construction is one process that aims to advance sustainability while also addressing societal and industry challenges, like housing affordability and a limited workforce. ICC has recognized the opportunities off-site construction provides and the need for solutions to support its effective use. ICC has developed two new standards with the Modular Building Institute to facilitate the effective design, fabrication, assembly, inspection, and regulation of off-site construction. A third standard is in the works to cover energy efficiency and water conservation opportunities in off-site construction.
As indicated above, building codes already provide significant resistance to hazards. However, the risks buildings will face over their lifetime are changing and will continue to change. Codes and standards will need to adapt to ensure that they continue to provide the desired level of protection. ICC is working with code development and research organizations in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through the Global Resiliency Dialogue to identify strategies to incorporate future-focused climate data into codes and standards. An International Resilience Guideline will be released later this year, providing a framework and principles to support increased climate resilience.
Building Resilient Communities
Building codes are a fundamental requirement for resilient communities, but communities need additional policies that work alongside those codes to achieve true resilience.
The Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR) has identified 19 different community functions that make communities great places to live and work and influence the community's resilience in the face of shocks and stresses. ANCR is developing a coordinated set of Community Resilience Benchmarks to help communities understand their current resilience and identify pathways to improve. Martinsville, Virginia, and Oakland Park, Florida, recently completed the benchmarking process, providing valuable insight into their resilience.
Driving Progress Together
Achieving safe, sustainable, and resilient buildings and communities requires a holistic approach focused on developing and deploying policies and practices aligned with community goals.
No matter your role in the building industry, there are opportunities to contribute to improved buildings. Participate in the model code development process or support the adoption of codes at the state and local levels. Engage clients and communities in conversations on the importance of integrating building sustainability and resilience strategies into projects. Build relationships with professionals from other disciplines and work collaboratively to support a holistic approach to resilience. Sustainability and resilience are team sports. ei
About the Author
Ryan Colker is the vice president of innovation at the International Code Council where he identifies emerging issues in the building industry, including how new technologies can be leveraged by codes and standards, methods to modernize the application of building regulations, and the development of new business strategies that support members and building safety professionals. He also serves as executive director of the Alliance for National and Community Resilience. Most recently, Colker was the vice president of the National Institute of Building Sciences, where he led the institute’s efforts to improve the built environment through collaboration of public and private sectors. Previously, he was the manager of government affairs at ASHRAE.