Hope for Pa. green building code

Three years ago, the proposed use of waterless urinals in the Comcast Center let loose a stream of labor indignation that threatened the tower's status as America's tallest green building.

Get ready for some real commotion.

Gov. Rendell is pushing for Pennsylvania's legislature to enact a state building code that would require environmentally friendly, energy-efficient construction. Whether he wants both residential and commercial development included is not yet known.

Rendell was short on specifics in his call for a green building code, which he made ever so briefly in his Feb. 4 budget speech.

In a 20-page address that outlined and defended a $29 billion state spending plan, Rendell's building-code pitch consisted of just one paragraph.

"Buildings account for 40 percent of our energy use; they consume 72 percent of our electricity, emit 38 percent of our CO2 emissions, and use 13.6 percent of our water," he said, citing national data from the U.S. Green Building Council. "If we are going to become energy independent and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, we need to push the envelope on conservation. A green building code does exactly that."

That the topic was even in the speech was a surprise and a thrill to Nathan Willcox, an energy and clean-air expert at PennEnvironment. The advocacy group is drafting legislation for a state green building code and trying to line up sponsors for it.

Willcox said the bill was likely to include incentives - if not a flat-out requirement - for energy audits for existing buildings whenever they are sold. As for eco-friendly features that would be required of any new building or major renovation? Willcox said he favored allowing developers to choose from a menu of options - such as green roofs, solar panels, geothermal heating or floors, and carpeting made from recycled materials.

"It's not about setting some unattainable goal," he said. "It's about setting a minimum standard to make sure the majority of buildings are meeting some energy standard."