In cooperation with the International Code Council (ICC), ASHRAE, and the NAHB, Home Innovation Research Labs recently announced appointments to the Consensus Committee for the next version (2015) of the National Green Building Standard (NGBS).
The development of the standard must follow an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-approved process, and Home Innovation once again will act as the secretariat, or administrator, of the standard development process. Home Innovation issued a call for Consensus Committee members in February, and applications were received through April 7, 2014.
Similar to the makeup of the committees convened to develop the 2008 and 2012 versions of the NGBS, the committee for the 2015 update includes government officials, advocacy groups, home builders, product manufacturer association representatives, and other affected industry stakeholders in residential construction. A complete list of the organizations represented on the Consensus Committee is available online at www.homeinnovation.com/ngbs.
The committee members also have been assigned to Task Groups, each focusing on a different area of the NGBS—such as energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, or lot and site development. The Task Group appointments were supplemented with other individuals who expressed an interest in participating in the standard development process. A full list of the Task Groups also is available online.
During the development process, the Consensus Committee will hold three meetings at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C.
• The first meeting, held in June, was used to orient all participants on the development process, and initiate Task Group review of the proposed changes.
• At the second meeting, which will be scheduled for the fall, members will review all proposed changes to the NGBS and decide the formal committee action on each of them. After balloting on the committee actions has been completed, a draft of the 2015 NGBS will be released for a 45-day public comment period.
•At the third meeting, which will take place in spring 2015, Consensus Committee members will consider, discuss, and take formal action on the public comments submitted on the draft standard.
Once the committee has completed its work, the newly updated NGBS will be submitted to ANSI for approval in 2015.
Initiated originally in 2007 by the ICC and the NAHB, the 2008 NGBS was developed by a 42-member Consensus Committee and approved by ANSI in January 2009, making it the first point-based rating system for green residential construction, remodeling, and land development to be approved by ANSI. As an ANSI-approved standard, the document is subject to periodic updates as a way to ensure that advances in building codes, technology, and other developments can be considered for incorporation; subsequent to the approval of the 2008 version, the 2012 NGBS also was developed using the same ANSI consensus process.
For additional information on the Consensus Committee and Task Groups, and for all future updates on the development process of the 2015 NGBS, visit www.home innovation.com/ngbs.
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