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Introduction to Resilience and the Building Codes:

These three studies are a good place to start learning about how Building Codes contribute to resilience!

• The Resilience Contributions of the International Building Code
• The Important Role of Energy Codes in Achieving Resilience
• Building Community Resilience Through Modern Model Building Codes

Model Building Codes and their Contributions: 

2018 International Green Construction Code^® (IgCC^®) – This was the first model code to include sustainability and resilience measures for an entire construction project and its site—from design, through construction, certificate of occupancy and beyond. The IgCC establishes a baseline for new and existing commercial buildings related to energy conservation, water efficiency, site impacts, building waste, material resource efficiency and other sustainability measures. While establishing such minimum requirements for buildings, the IgCC^®  also offers flexibility to jurisdictions that adopt the code by establishing several levels of compliance; starting with the core provisions of the code, and then offering jurisdictional requirement options that can be customized to fit the needs of a local community. The code acts as an overlay to the existing set of International Codes, including provisions of the International Energy Conservation Code^®  and ICC-700 National Green Building Standard™, and incorporates ASHRAE Standard 189.1 as an alternate path to compliance.

 

 

2018 International Building Code (IBC)

The scope of the IBC is clearly focused on assuring that a community’s building stock supports the resilience of the community. Reducing the impacts on people and property in the face of multiple shocks and stresses allows communities to survive and ultimately thrive. Like all the I-Codes, the IBC is focused on life-safety, protecting occupants from adverse impacts from buildings. However, it also recognizes where buildings intersect with other important community functions that support overall safety including utility connections, the performance of community shelters, building codes and code departments as part of the emergency planning process, and the importance of critical facilities.

Download Resilience Contributions of the International Building Code.

 

 

 

2018 International Energy Conservation Code^®  (IECC^®)

Sets minimum energy efficiency provisions for both residential and commercial buildings. The IECC covers new construction, additions, remodeling, window replacement and repairs of specified buildings with each implementing the green construction code that will make a contribution toward a healthier, lower impact and more sustainable building practices. Users of the code can choose between two methods for showing compliance, the prescriptive and performance paths.

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the International Energy Conservation Code 

 

 

 

 

2018 International Existing Building Code^® (IEBC^®)

Contains requirements intended to encourage the use and reuse of existing buildings. The scope covers repair, alteration, addition and change of occupancy for existing buildings and historic buildings, while achieving appropriate levels of safety without requiring full compliance with the new construction requirements contained in the other I-Codes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ICC 700-2015 National Green Building Standard™

Provides guidance for safe and sustainable building practices for residential construction, including both new and renovated single-family to high-rise residential buildings. This standard allows builders, designers and communities to choose the levels of high-performance green buildings with the following key provisions:

• Land conservation
• Rainwater collection
• Construction of smaller homes to conserve resources
• Use of low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) materials, detached garages or carports to improve indoor environmental quality
• Homeowner education on proper maintenance and operation to maintain its green status throughout its life cycle

The standard also promotes homeowner education for the maintenance and operation of green residential buildings in order to ensure long-term benefits.

 

2018 International Plumbing Code^® (IPC^®)

Incorporates innovative technologies including waterless urinals and detailed engineered designs that permit the installation of smaller, more precise water usage and water drainage systems, resulting in the savings of millions of gallons of water which helps communities be more resilient in the face of droughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 International Residential Code^® (IRC^®)

Contains many water efficiency provisions that are noted in the IPC. The provisions in the IRC for collecting, storing, and using various types of no-potable water recognize the growing need for water conservation and the increase in the development of water conservation programs in many regions of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 ICC Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities^® (ICCPC^®)

Presents users with regulations based on outcome, rather than prescription. This indispensable resource provides a broader parameter for meeting the intent of the International Codes, thereby encouraging new design methods. Promotes innovative, flexible and responsive solutions that optimize the expenditure and consumption of resources while preserving social and economic value.

 

2018 ICC Property Maintenance Code^® (IPMC^®)

The IPMC is an essential tool for improving public health. It addresses important issues like urban blight, pest elimination, and sanitary garbage disposal to create cleaner and healthier communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional tools to help you advance this important cause:

• Code Adoption Resources
• Submit Code Adoptions
• Code Adoption Toolkit
• IgCC Toolkit
• Ensure your community is using the latest codes with the latest water conservation and efficiency best practices.  These sample ordinances will provide you the templates that will help you!

The Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR)

The Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR - pronounced “anchor”) is an ICC co-founded 501(c)3 national coalition aimed at improving resilience and implementing good community practices in towns and cities across the United States and helping cities prevent infrastructure failure caused by natural and other disasters, thereby avoiding negative social, economic and welfare repercussions caused by such damages. ANCR’s primary objective is the development of a system of community benchmarks – the first system of its kind in the United States – that will allow local leaders to easily assess and improve their resilience across all functions of a community. When adverse events occur, all gears in the local system must continue to function. ANCR intends to give communities a voluntary, transparent, usable, and easily understandable accredited self-assessment that helps to showcase their whole-community resilience and provides a simple gauge of how their resilience continues to strengthen.”

ANCR has released its Building Benchmark and Housing Benchmark which are available for piloting by communities.

To learn more about contact Ryan Colker, Executive Director at rcolker@iccsafe.org.

 

International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES)

ICC-ES is the leader in the technical evaluations of building products, components, methods and materials. In response to the increased demand for the evaluation of "green" building products, ICC-ES developed the Environmental Programs that provides manufacturers with independent and comprehensive evaluation and/or certification for their products that meet specific sustainability targets. We offer the following services under the ICC-ES VAR Environmental Report and Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Programs:

ICC-ES VAR Environmental Reports

Evaluation of assemblies for compliance with the provisions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), the ICC-ES VAR Environmental Program creates reports that are used by code officials, government agencies, architects, engineers, specifiers and many others as an independent, third-party assessment of a product or assembly.  ICC-ES VAR evaluates products to green building codes such as:

• International Green Construction Code (IgCC)
• California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen)
• ASHRAE 189.1

ICC-ES

Evaluates products to green building rating systems and standards such as:

• S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
• Green Building Initiative's GBI-01 Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings Standard
• ICC700-2012 National Green Building Standard

ICC-ES EPD Program

Conducts a Type III environmental declaration program that certifies a manufacturer's EPD as conforming to the requirements of the ISO 14025 Environmental Declaration standard.

 

International Accreditation Service (IAS)

A nonprofit, internationally recognized accreditation body which accredits a wide range of companies and organizations including; governmental entities, commercial businesses and professional associations. IAS offers multiple programs that accredit organizations whose services may be used by businesses and regulators engaged in providing energy-efficient, sustainable infrastructure. It is committed to facilitate the needs of industry and regulators by identifying energy-related and sustainability standards and by offering accreditation under these “green” standards to testing laboratories and inspection agencies. Recognizing that environmental issues were becoming increasingly important in the construction industry, IAS’s green initiatives convened a “Green” forum in conjunction with the public hearings of the IAS Accreditation Committee. The forum was used to launch an initiative to address environmental concerns and to benefit the organizations that IAS accredits, the construction industry and manufacturers who need independent verification that their products, services and systems truly meet sustainable standards.

IAS offers accreditation for the following sustainable, green and environmental programs:

• Testing Laboratory Accreditation
• Inspection Agency Accreditation
• Commissioning Training and Certification Agency Accreditation

Management System Certification Body Accreditation of Environmental Management Systems

 

ICC Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (ICC-SRCC)

SRCC and its certification programs were established in the 1980’s as a direct result of the combined efforts of several state, federal and industry organizations. SRCC operates as various ISO 17065 certification programs for solar thermal collectors, domestic water heating systems and pool heating systems.  The programs include valuable third-party performance ratings that allow the direct comparison of collectors and systems for specific applications and locations. SRCC’s certifications and ratings are used by code officials and incentive programs throughout North America and are even used to set rebates and tax incentives.  SRCC also develops and promulgates the ICC 901/SRCC 100, ICC 902/SRCC 300 and ICC 902/APSP 902/SRCC 400 standards through ICC’s ANSI-approved standard development procedures.

 

Code and Commentaries

Presented in an easy-to-reference format, the IgCC^® and IECC^® Code and Commentaries are a comprehensive and convenient reference for regulations in the International Green Construction Code and the International Energy Conservation Code. These publications focus on providing the full meaning and implications of the codes and are designed to suggest the most effective method of application of the code provisions.

 

Energy Code Essentials, 2015 edition^®

Provides an easy-to-read companion guide to the IECC^® for both beginning and experienced code users and accurate information on critical energy code applications in the office and in the field for residential and commercial construction.

 

International Energy Conservation Code Turbo Tabs

These tabs were created by industry experts who carefully identified the most referenced sections in the code in an easy-to-read format.

 

ICC G4-2012 Guideline for Commissioning

Helps the building compliance and design communities to successfully implement the building commissioning process as mandated in the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) and International Energy Conservation Code. The guideline supports the adoption and application of the IgCC and its alternate compliance paths ASHRAE 189.1 and ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard, as well as regional green building codes such as CALGreen.

 

International Green Construction Code Water Efficiency Provisions

This document consists of provisions extracted directly from the International Green Construction Code™ (IgCC™) and is designed for ease of access to its water-related provisions. The IgCC Water Efficiency Provisions document offers one of the most comprehensive model code for constructing and remodeling buildings in order to reduce water consumption. It promotes water conservation associated with both the building and the building site. These provisions address systems and components including, but not limited to: plumbing fixtures and fittings, appliances, hot water delivery systems, meters, cooling towers, water treatment systems, alternate water supplies (including rainwater, gray water, and reclaimed water), landscape irrigation systems and car washes.

 

ICC 500-2014: ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters

Published jointly by the International Code Council (ICC) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) and referenced in the newest building safety codes, this standard provides minimum design and construction requirements for storm shelters that provide a safe refuge from storms that produce high winds, hurricanes, and tornadoes. The magnitude of wind speeds associated with these events require building occupants and residents to evacuate the area or seek protection in a shelter designed for resistance to extraordinary loads and flying debris. The newest ICC Codes now require storm shelters in educational occupancies and critical emergency operation centers located in areas prone to extreme tornados. This standard provides design requirements for the main wind resisting structural system and components and cladding of these shelters, and provides basic occupant life safety and health requirements for these shelters including means of egress, lighting, sanitation, ventilation, fire safety, and minimum required floor space for occupants.

 

ICC 600-2014: Standard for Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions

The scope of this standard is based on content from SSTD 10 and material standards’ and is to specify prescriptive methods to provide wind resistant designs and construction details for residential buildings of masonry, concrete, wood-framed or cold-formed steel framed construction sited in high- wind regions where design wind speeds are 120 to 180 mph. The purpose of this standard is to improve building resiliency by providing prescriptive requirements based on the latest engineering knowledge and to provide minimum requirements to improve structural integrity and improve building envelope performance within the limitations in building geometry, materials, and wind climate specified.

 

The 2018 International Solar Energy Provisions™ (ISEP™) contains the complete solar-energy-related provisions and selected standards from the 2018 International Codes^® (2018 I-Codes) in one document. The ISEP is organized such that it provides the best and most comprehensive tool for the design, installation and administration of both solar thermal (or solar heating and cooling) and photovoltaic systems. It includes all I-Code solar energy provisions; solar thermal standards ICC 901/SRCC 100 and ICC 900/SRCC 300; and the solar energy provisions from NFPA 70: 2017 NEC®.

 

ICC 900/SRCC 300-2015: Solar Thermal System Standard

This standard establishes minimum criteria for the design and installation of solar thermal systems used for applications including heating, cooling, dehumidification and co-generation. It describes the minimum requirements and methodologies for the design and evaluation of solar thermal systems and is coordinate with the I-Codes.  It is referenced in the 2018 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC and ISPSC.

 

ICC 901/SRCC 100-2015: Solar Thermal Collector Standard

This standard establishes minimum criteria for the design, manufacture and testing of solar thermal collectors. It addresses a wide range of solar thermal collectors, including flat panel, evacuated tube, concentrating, integrated storage and unglazed types.  It is referenced in the 2018 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC and ISPSC.

 

ANSI/RESNET/ICC 301-2014: Standard for the Calculation and Labeling of the Energy Performance of Low-Rise Residential Buildings using an Energy Rating Index

This standard provides a consistent, uniform methodology for evaluating and labeling the energy performance of residences. The methodology compares the energy performance of an actual home with the energy performance of a reference home of the same geometry, resulting in a relative energy rating called the Energy Rating Index. Where the energy performance of the actual home and the reference home are equal, the Energy Rating Index is 100 and where the actual home requires no net purchased energy annually, the Energy Rating Index is 0 (zero).

 

ANSI/RESNET/ICC 380-2016: Standard for Testing Airtightness of Building Enclosures, Airtightness of Heating and Cooling Air Distribution Systems, and Airflow of Mechanical Ventilation Systems

This Standard provides a consistent, uniform methodology for evaluating the airtightness of building envelopes and heating and cooling air ducts, and the airflows of mechanical ventilation systems. These test procedures can be used as building diagnostics, in quality assurance and control, for determining compliance with codes and standards, and to determine input to energy simulations and ratings. The Standard recognizes some test procedures are easier to perform depending on house and HVAC system characteristics, and different codes and standards have specific testing requirements. Therefore, the Standard presents several alternative approaches for each measurement to allow flexibility in application of the standard.

 

Rainwater Harvesting and Landscape Irrigation Standards:

ICC and CSA released a comprehensive standard addressing the design and installation of rainwater harvesting systems in April, 2018.  CSA B805/ICC 805 – 2018 is a ground-breaking standard provides minimum provisions for the collection, storage and treatment of rainwater and stormwater.  It also covers a wide range of applications ranging from landscape irrigation to water closet flushing and even potable uses.  The standard provides for both prescriptive and performance methods to meet key water quality criteria.

ICC and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) partnered to create the ICC 802-2014 Landscape Irrigation Sprinkler and Emitter Standard to set uniform testing procedures, and establish minimum design and performance requirements for commercial and residential landscape irrigation components. It is used in the EPA WaterSense Specification for Spray Sprinkler Bodies, to help set testing methods for pressure regulation features to reduce water waste and boost performance. ICC-ES provides certification to this specification for several manufacturers.

SRCC and its certification programs were established in the 1980’s as a direct result of the combined efforts of several state, federal and industry organizations. SRCC operates various ISO 17065 certification programs for solar thermal collectors, domestic water heating systems and pool heating systems.  The programs include valuable third-party performance ratings that allow the direct comparison of collectors and systems for specific applications and locations. SRCC’s certifications and ratings are used by code officials and incentive programs throughout North America and are even used to set rebates and tax incentives.  SRCC also develops and promulgates the ICC 901/SRCC 100, ICC 902/SRCC 300 and ICC 902/APSP 902/SRCC 400 standards through ICC’s ANSI-approved standard development procedures.

 

Pool Solar Heating and Cooling Standard:

ICC 902/APSP 902/SRCC 400-2017 Solar Pool and Spa Heating System Standard as created and released in 2017 as the result of a three-way partnership between ICC, ICC-SRCC, and the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (APSP).  It brought together code officials, pool builders and solar pool heating experts to produce the first-of-its-kind standard integrating pools and solar water heating systems.  The result is a set of design and installation requirements that ensure that solar water heating systems installed on pools and spas work together to ensure safety, water quality and compatibility.