Interior Plants Receive Preliminary Approval by the IgCC
26 August 2010
News from Green Plants for Green Buildings, USA
The International Green Construction Code (IgCC) has given preliminary approval for the inclusion of live plants as part of their proposed 2012 code revisions. A new subsection of Section 810 will be headed ‘Interior Plants and Pollutant Control’ and will outline where and how many plants should be used to comply with this optional green building guideline – which is administered by the International Code Council (ICC). A mandatory plant maintenance program will also be required for compliance.
In public comment hearings on Public Version 1.0 held in Chicago on August 17, 2010, Michael Lewis, President of Green Plants for Green Buildings, along with Charlie Acevedo and Mike Rimland from Costa Farms, presented solid evidence that indoor plants are a good, low energy way to help clean the air of pollutants as well as provide fresh oxygen –which helps improve worker moral and productivity, as well as reduce building related illnesses and employee sick days. It was also pointed out that Australia already has something similar in place called Green Star that includes indoor plants as part of their measurement standards.
Lewis was also representing the Interiorscape Industry Coalition (IIC), a collaboration of non-profit organizations that include Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), Brigham Young University, Green Plants for Green Buildings (GPGB), Plantscape Industry Alliance (PIA), National Foliage Foundation (NFF), Tropical Plant Industry Exposition (TPIE), Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA), Landscape Ontario, and OFA – an Association of Floriculture Professionals. All together these partners represented approximately 9,000 companies and 177,000 stakeholders, bringing considerable clout to the proceedings.
After waiting 10 hours for the opportunity to present their case to the committee, the interior plant position statements were made. According to Lewis: ‘I knew we had some friendly faces up there based on the constructive comments we received immediately following our presentation. However, it wasn’t until the final vote that we realized an overwhelming majority (10 yes, 4 no, and 1 abstain) voted in favor of the new guidelines!”
The next step is to prepare a revised Interior Plants & Pollution Control code outline for Public Version 2.0 this fall, which will incorporate the many constructive suggestions made by the review committee.
For more information please visit Green Plants for Green Buildings website.
