Chapter 9

1. Chapter 9 Guidelines and Required Codes That Affect Building Design

2. Introduction • Guidelines and codes that affect home design • Traditionally from home-owner associations • Many attempt to follow green building guidelines • Building codes • Required laws intended to protect the public • Minimum guidelines for construction and inspection of a structure

3. Green Building Guidelines • Green building • Incorporation of environmental considerations and resources into the construction process • Green or environmentally friendly building • Designed, built, operated, renovated, recycled ecologically, and in a resource-efficient manner • Meet certain objectives (e.g., protecting health, using resources efficiently, etc.)

4. Green Building Guidelines (cont’d.) • LEED Green Building Rating System • Designed to help improve building quality and minimize environmental impact • Developed by U.S. Green Building Council • Requires a minimum number of points • Certified: 26–32 points • Silver: 33–38 points • Gold: 39–51 points • Platinum: 52 points or more

5. Green Building Guidelines (cont’d.) • LEED Green Building Rating System key areas: • Sustainable sites • Water efficiency • Indoor environmental quality • Energy an atmosphere • Material and resources • Innovation and design process

6. Green Building Guidelines (cont’d.) • National Green Building Standard ICC 700 • Developed by NAHB and ICC • Whole-house systems approach • Intended to increase home’s performance and efficiency

7. Green Building Guidelines (cont’d.) • National Green Building Standard ICC 700 key areas: • Site design and development • Lot Design, preparation, and development • Resource efficiency • Energy efficiency • Water efficiency • Indoor environmental quality

8. Green Building Guidelines (cont’d.) • National Green Building Standard ICC 700 key areas (cont’d.): • Operation, maintenance, and owner education • Levels of certification: • Bronze • Silver • Gold • Emerald

9. National Building Codes • Regulation of buildings • Can be traced back more than 4000 years • George Washington and Thomas Jefferson • Building codes • Now used throughout most of U.S. • Regulates issues (e.g., fire, structural ability, health, security, energy, new materials and technology)

10. National Building Codes (cont’d.) • Model code organizations • Oversee accredited laboratories and testing facilities • Material suppliers may have their own testing facilities • Many jurisdictions adopt building codes with local amendments • Vary according to location

11. National Building Codes (cont’d.) • National code options • Most states adopted building codes published by International Code Council (ICC) • Some might still be using one of the legacy codes of the ICC • Each municipality and state has the right to adopt all, or a portion, of the indicated code

12. National Building Codes (cont’d.) • International code family • International Code Council (ICC) • International Building Code (IBC) • International Residential Code (IRC) • Choosing the right code • Responsibility of the architect and engineer

13. Basic Design Criteria for Building Planning • Building codes influence design and construction methods • Understand ICC markings • Space is subdivided into: • Habitable space • Nonhabitable space

14. Basic Design Criteria for Building Planning (cont’d.) • Location on the property • Exterior walls of residential building cannot be located within 5′ of property lines • Unless special provisions are met • Zoning regulations may further restrict location • Made from materials with one-hour fire rating

15. Basic Design Criteria for Building Planning (cont’d.) • Egress and accessibility requirements for a residence • Means of egress • Egress doors • Emergency egress openings • Halls • Stairs • Handrails and guardrails

18. Basic Design Criteria for Building Planning (cont’d.) • Room dimensions • Affect the size and ceiling height of rooms • At least one room with 120 sq ft of total floor area • Other habitable rooms except kitchens are required to have a minimum of 70 sq ft and not less than 7′ • Minimum ceiling height of 7′0″ (some exceptions)

19. Basic Design Criteria for Building Planning (cont’d.) • Light and ventilation requirements • Major effect on window size and placement • Natural light • Alternative light and ventilation methods • Heating and sanitation requirements • Minimal • Rarely affect design process

20. Basic Design Criteria for Building Planning (cont’d.) • Safety equipment • Automatic fire sprinkler system • Smoke detectors • Carbon monoxide alarms

21. Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria • Key elements to design a safe structure: • Air freezing index • Flood hazard • Ground snow load • Mean annual temperature • Ice barrier underlayment • Seismic design category

22. Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria (cont’d.) • Key elements to design a safe structure (cont’d.): • Susceptibility to damage by: • Frost line depth • Termites • Weathering • Wind design: speed and topographic effects • Winter design: temperature

23. International Energy Conservation Code • Published by ICC and is updated every three years • Regulates: • Design and construction of exterior envelope • Selection of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning, water heating, electrical distribution and illuminating systems, and equipment

24. International Energy Conservation Code (cont’d.) • Determining required envelope • Exterior envelope comprises exterior walls, ceiling, openings in walls and ceiling, and floor • Construction depends on climate zones based on wet-bulb temperature

25. International Energy Conservation Code (cont’d.) • General requirements for building the envelope: • Insulation • Material used to restrict flow of heat, cold, or sound • Fenestration • Openings in envelope • Solar heat gain coefficient and solar heat gain

26. International Energy Conservation Code (cont’d.) • Specific requirements: • Ceilings with or without attic storage • Mass walls • Floor/crawl space walls • Basement walls • Slab-on-grade floors