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Green building programs in the USA and sustainable design strategies utilizing masonry
Published in Claudio Modena, F. da Porto, M.R. Valluzzi, Brick and Block Masonry, 2016
The ICC 700 National Green Building Standard^^ (NGBS) covers both single family and multifamily residential construction in the areas of new construction, renovations and also land development projects. The IGCC incorporates the NGBS as an alternate compliance path for certain residential buildings.
Building lower-carbon affordable housing: case studies from California
Published in Building Research & Information, 2022
Sarah Outcault, Eli Alston-Stepnitz, Angela Sanguinetti, Ashley N. DePew, Cinthia Magaña
California has adopted several policies aimed at ensuring residential building emissions reduction goals are met in an equitable way. For example, Senate Bill 1477 provides $50 million annually for programmes that bring innovative technologies to low-income residential construction and address energy affordability for those who are disproportionately ‘energy burdened’ (Miller et al., 2019). Competitive financing has also emerged as a lever to encourage affordable housing developers to adopt lower-carbon designs. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the primary funding mechanism for affordable housing in the U.S. It awards developers federal tax credits to offset construction costs in exchange for building a certain proportion of low-income, rent-restricted housing. Congress allocates LIHTC amounts to state housing finance agencies that determine their own eligibility criteria and allocate the credits to developers accordingly (Tax Policy Center, 2017); California incentivizes green building and requires developers to install and maintain energy efficiency and sustainability features that adhere to Title 24, at minimum. Other federal affordable housing funding programmes incorporate mechanisms to encourage lower-carbon housing, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships programmes, and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service and Farm Labor Housing programmes. For example, the latter requires an environmental certification (e.g. LEED, National Green Building Standard) (Federal Register, 2021).
An overview of sustainability policies and strategies on buildings in Turkey
Published in International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 2020
Fatma Seyma Keskin, Pedro Martinez-Vazquez, Charalampos Baniotopoulos
The Asian continent is also proactive in enforcing developments of sustainable infrastructure. South Korea uses a building energy efficiency rating system mapped from the Green Building Act, the Green Building Certification system and financial incentives (Koo et al. 2014; Nejat et al. 2015). China implemented energy efficiency standards tailored to different climates (Laustsen 2008). Likewise, for the most prominent European countries, the building energy code is compulsory. Since 1996, China has issued numerous guidelines and legislation on green buildings to finally issue its first national green building standard in 2006 (Geng et al. 2012). Currently, green building labelling is voluntary. Should construction companies fail to comply with these mandatory requirements; they would have to pay between 2% and 4% of the contract price as a penalty (Li and Shui 2015). Despite the increased floor area and electrical appliances that result from rapid urbanisation and population, China has the potential to reduce its energy consumption to 54% (ATCMP 2014). In Japan, the first energy law set in 1979 states that when the built surface is greater than 2000m2 compliance energy use should be strictly checked against the relevant standards. Additionally, in 2012 the Innovative Strategy for Energy and the Environment (ISEE) established a road map to guide urban developers. This relatively new policy became mandatory by 2010, detailing for every building type to determine energy performance (IEA 2013a). Hence, their Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE) will absorb the Green Building Rating System (Laustsen 2008). The Japanese government also encourages voluntary labelling as per building energy performances. This is done through a programme called Top Runner, which also provides guidance on the use of technology for achieving high-energy performance (Kimura 2010). Japan also integrated its building energy code with building structural performance code in its building certification (IEA 2018).