isions with documentation requirements are elective. Many of them are also a bit vague, leaving the specific requirements up to local enforcement officials. Likewise, the enforcement and compliance guidelines are vague. It is pretty much left up to each jurisdiction to decide how it wants to enforce CalGreen. The regulations suggest that HERS raters or other special inspectors who are “qualified and able to demonstrate competency” may be used, but they’re not required. There are no HERS rater requirements, however, even for elective provisions such as duct testing, which can only be done by a HERS rater if the duct test is being used for Title 24 compliance credit. The overlap between CalGreen and HERS testing could be tightened up.
CalGreen states that HVAC installers should be properly trained and certified, but it doesn’t clearly and specifically define what that means. “Nationally or regionally recognized training or certification programs” are acceptable. In addition “uncertified persons may perform HVAC installations when under the direct supervision and responsibility of a person trained and certified to install HVAC systems or contractor licensed to install HVAC systems.” That leaves a certain amount of additional wiggle room in the HVAC certification requirement, guaranteeing that there will be no significant change.
Enforcement will probably be an issue for many months. It’s a well-known fact that enforcement of the current HERS regulations is spotty at best, and a downright failure much of the time. CalGreen just adds another layer of compliance that, based on the history of California’s HERS requirements, will be difficult to enforce. Code officials will have to be trained, and then jurisdictions will have to find the resources to enforce the code, if they are motivated to do so. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
There will be additional confusion and complexity because the state is encouraging each jurisdiction to develop its own variation on the straightforward Tier I and Tier II definitions. In the past several years, various counties and cities have adopted their own green-building codes, complicating the marketplace. CalGreen was an opportunity to address that problem by simplifying statewide requirements. It appears it will end up doing just the opposite—increasing complexity by introducing even more local green-building codes.
These issues aside, and forgetting for the moment that CalGreen does not address existing buildings (California’s HERS II program, still being tweaked as of this writing, is supposed to do that), it’s a step in the right direction. There’s a saying: As California goes, so goes the rest of the country. CalGreen may be a vehicle that helps propel other states to adopt tougher green-building codes. In our wildest dreams, it could even be the legislation that persuades the federal government to adopt a strict national green-building code. Wouldn’t that be something?
- FIRST PAGE
- PREVIOUS PAGE
Enter your comments in the box below:
(Please note that all comments are subject to review prior to posting.)