[GBlist] DCAT Survey Release!

[ANovelli@aol.com]

Friends,

I hope yoiu find the following announcement and referenced survey results as 
exciting as we do!

best wishes,

Tony Novelli
*************

Please help us spread the word about this report!

[please excuse the cross-posting]

The Development Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT) is pleased 
to annouce the publication of the results of a survey assessing the 
regulatory barriers to more sustainable building and development, 
commonly called green building. The survey collected information from 
people who seek code approval for construction plans ("code users") 
and code officials who approve or deny those plans. The goal was to 
assess both groups' experience with green building and building 
codes. The results revealed that building codes frequently present 
barriers to the approval of green building alternatives. Those 
barriers are both technical and non-technical in nature. Both groups 
of respondents overwhelmingly indicated that supporting information 
for alternatives accompanying plans was the most significant factor 
in gaining code approval. Non-technical factors were about as likely 
to affect approval as conflicts with the intent of the code. The 
survey report concludes with a set of recommended strategies for 
gaining approval and recommendations for training of both code users 
and code officials.

Three conclusions drawn from the survey results demonstrate where 
further work is needed to facilitate the chances of code approval of 
green building:

* Applications are more likely to be denied if they are in clear 
conflict with the intent of the code or if they lack sufficient 
supporting information about the green product, material, system, or 
design to satisfy safety concerns.
* Both code officials and those who seek code approval for green 
building considered an existing code provision more likely to 
contribute to the approval of a green product, material, system, or 
design application, but only code users considered a code provision 
to contribute to the denial of such applications.
* Applications for green building approaches are avoided by 
practitioners because supporting information will take too long to 
acquire or does not exist.

The survey results also revealed strategies for green building 
practitioners that enhance the approval rate of green building 
approaches. The most important strategy is to provide supporting 
technical information adequate to satisfy safety concerns. Additional 
strategies are:

* Provide other information such as case studies of successful use of 
the alternative and contact information for building officials 
familiar with the alternative.
* Start the process early.
* Involve building department staff early.
* Be persistent and patient.

The survey report is available on the DCAT website at www.dcat.net. 
For further information, please contact Loretta Ishida at (520) 
624-6628 or loretta@dcat.net.


*************

Tony Novelli
Assistant Director
Development Center for Appropriate Technology
P.O. Box 27513
Tucson, Arizona 85726-7513 USA
(520) 624-6628
(520) 798-3701 Fax
<A HREF="http://www.dcat.net";>http://www.dcat.net</A>

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each 
person's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."
                                                        -Henry Wadsworth 
Longfellow

______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________