CAPITOLA, CA - Ricardo Oliva is building his new home with a roof made of recycled tires, insulation made of newspapers and a number of green staples like solar panels and rainwater reservoirs. He says he's doing it to leave less of a mark on the planet. "I'm sold on the idea of being green," Oliva said as stood in front of his 3,200-square-foot McCormick Avenue home, which he hopes to move into with his son and girlfriend later this year. "It just makes sense."
But Oliva's actions do more than satisfy his green conscience. They keep him in front of the law, which across the state is increasing pressure on residents to reduce their energy and water use by building more efficiently. This month, California became the first state in the nation to adopt green building rules, albeit voluntary ones. That's on top of existing regulations in several cities, including all four in Santa Cruz County and a voluntary program that began this summer in the county's unincorporated areas.
"These are good first steps," said Sharon Sarris, an accredited member of the U.S. Green Building Council and representative on the county's Commission on the Environment. "Local government has a role to play in encouraging green development."
Property owners looking to build a new home or win approval for a large addition or remodel don't have to go to the extremes of Oliva, with his $20,000 worth of solar panels and his roof-water irrigation system. But they can expect to see a little extra paperwork, if not a few extra mandates.
Local building rules vary from city to city but generally require applicants to include a minimum number of environmentally friendly features in their work. This may mean installing low-flow toilets, increasing natural lighting or using salvaged tiles for flooring. In most cases, applicants use a checklist to tally their way to the required threshold of green components.
The city of Santa Cruz was the first in the county to embrace the checklist two years ago, and other cities have since followed. Most recently, the county Board of Supervisors mandated in June that a checklist be included with all residential building applications in unincorporated areas, though at this point there's no requirement to take any green measures. "The idea now is that people are mindful of them," said county Principal Planner Glenda Hill. The county expects to consider making the green building codes mandatory by the end of the year.
Energy experts say the cost of green building for homeowners depends on the extent of the work performed and can range from nothing extra to significantly higher prices up front but savings over time. The cost of not going green, they argue, is greater environmentally and in some cases financially, though it may not be as immediately clear. A quarter of the state's greenhouse gas emissions comes from buildings, second only to transportation, according to state estimates.
The state's green building codes standards, adopted last week, govern residential and commercial projects. They are seen as a vital to meeting California's ambitious carbon-reduction goals, as spelled out in AB32. The voluntary standards, which take effect in July of next year, are not meant to displace local codes but provide a minimum standard that cities and counties can add to.
In Santa Cruz County, most jurisdictions are well on their way to embracing those standards, Sarris says, but only when the state adopts its mandatory rules, expected in 2010, can the local building officials make sure they're in compliance. While local building officials report that homeowners have generally welcomed green building rules, they haven't pleased everyone.
Some complain about a lack of consistency between different cities in the region, which building off
Source: MercuryNews.com