n and development, materials used (including techniques such as plastered straw bales, which have special wiring requirements), atmospheric quality, water conservation and renewable energy systems.
Among the electrical system components, the IGCC specifies limits on the amount of mercury that can be contained in fluorescent tubes. It includes specific metering requirements to allow building owners or managers to isolate and measure, report or display energy usage according to load type — be it HVAC, lighting, building operation, plug loads or process loads — as well as automated demand response capabilities. It also includes requirements for transformer efficiency, and minimum performance parameters for a variety of appliances and equipment.
At the time of last month's Greenbuild conference, only Richland, Wash., had already voted to adopt the IGCC as a building code, but ICC officials said many other jurisdictions were actively considering adoption. The final 2012 IGCC is scheduled for release in March 2012, after additional rounds of comments and proposed changes.
At the further reaches of building efficiency, the folks out in California are pushing for buildings that consume no energy. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in September introduced an action plan designed to help commercial building owners take advantage of the latest technologies and financial incentives to reduce energy use to ‘net-zero.’
The Zero Net Energy Action Plan identifies specific actions and timelines to achieve time-specific milestones in California's Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan. The plan aims to transform the state's commercial buildings into clean energy powered, energy-efficient structures by 2030, said CPUC Commissioner Dian Grueneich.
Zero net energy (ZNE) buildings have a net energy consumption of zero over a typical year. On-site solar, wind and other renewable energy resources generate the amount of energy used by the building. To date, California has more ZNE buildings than any other state in the nation. Technologies needed to achieve ZNE — including high-performance lighting and distributed generation such as rooftop solar — are widely available and incentivized.
The action plan lays out a path to implement California's Long-Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan for the commercial sector, published in 2008, which specified ZNE in two of the four “Big Bold Energy Efficiency Strategies (BBEES)” identified by the state:
All new residential construction in California will be ZNE by 2020
All new commercial construction in California will be ZNE by 2030
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) will be upgraded to ensure that its energy performance is optimal for California's climate
All eligible low-income customers will be given the opportunity to participate in the low-income energy efficiency program by 2020.
CPUC rolled out the lighting chapter of this strategic plan in September, outlining ways to cut lighting energy use statewide by 60 to 80 percent over the next decade.
Lighting accounts for approximately a quarter of California's electricity use and CPUC sees promoting the widespread use of energy efficient lighting as a route to significant savings. The lighting chapter of the Strategic Plan focuses on development and dissemination of best practices; expanded and enhanced research, development and demonstration infrastructure; cultivation of end-user demand; and integrated, supportive state policies.
“The lighting chapter is a comprehensive strategy to bring together all aspects of the lighting market in California to achieve the state's energy efficiency and zero net energy goals,” said Grueneich in announcing the lighting plan's adoption. “By coordinating public policy and regulations, building designers, owners, managers, occupants, consumers and technology developers can make best practices in energy-efficient lighting common practice.”
The lighting plan as yet doesn't include government mandates for changes in lighting, but leans instead on public outreach and education, supported by expanded resea