In the first of its kind collaboration designed to boost critical green building practices across the country, the International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES)  announced the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). A landmark addition to the technical content of the IGCC is the inclusion of ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, as an alternate path of compliance. Standard 189.1 is a set of technically rigorous requirements, which like the IGCC, covers criteria including water use efficiency, indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency, materials and resource use, and the building's impact on its site and its community.

For more information on IGCC: www.intlcode.org/cs/IGCC/Pages/default.aspx and on Standard 189.1: www.ashrae.org/greenstandard.