2001 HIGHLIGHTS

DCAT Director David Eisenberg Chairs Earthen Materials Standards Task Force
DCAT leads an effort within the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E06.71 Subcommittee to develop standards for low-impact building systems. David Eisenberg initiated and chairs a task group developing a set of standards for earthen materials, including rammed earth, adobe, and compressed earth block. These standards will assist people in getting code approval for building projects using these materials.

DCAT Leads "Greening of the Codes" Committee for U.S. Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) represents over 1000 organizations and companies from across the building and development sector working to promote buildings that are energy-efficient, more environ-mentally responsible, and economical to build, operate, and maintain. David Eisenberg serves on the Board of Directors of the Council and spearheaded the creation of the Greening the Codes Committee, providing a vehicle to educate Council members about building regulatory issues and creating a strong voice rep-resenting the green building and development community in working with the building regulatory arena.

DCAT's "Identifying Barriers to Green Building Survey" Completed
DCAT conducted a web-based survey to assess issues related to green building and building regulations. Over 250 respondents, including both code officials and those whose work must comply with codes, provided information on their experiences. The survey provided quantitative information validating and elucidating many of the problems DCAT has been working to address over the past few years—the existence and nature of the regulatory barriers to green building—as well as successful strategies to overcome those barriers.

DCAT Partners with State of Pennsylvania to Create Pilot Training Program for Codes Officials
DCAT is collaborating with the Governor's Green Government Council of the State of Pennsylvania to develop and administer a pilot training program for code officials. This program will develop curriculum and a training workshop for code officials on green building, design, and alternative materials. This pilot is the first step in developing a model program for all of Pennsylvania, with eventual expansion into a national program.

Continuing Developments with Model Code Organizations
DCAT and the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) continue to deepen their relationship, working together to integrate sustainability issues into national building codes, partnering on writing our building codes survey, working together with USGBC, and focusing on the integration of these activities into the International Code Council (the organization into which all three national model code organizations will merge in 2002). We will initiate a regular column on green building in ICBO's Building Standards magazine in January, 2002.

Nurturing Our Roots through Local Activities
DCAT has been involved in a number of local activities such as leading the Southern Arizona Green Building Alliance, helping plan and participate in the Hot Topics/Cool Solutions conference, and serving on the advisory committee of the Building from the Best of Tucson project, administered by the Sonoran Institute.

Significant Publications, Conferences & Keynote Speeches
David Eisenberg co-wrote the feature article on sustainability and building codes for the September issue of Environmental Building News, the leading newsletter on environmental design and construction. A shorter article on the same subject appeared in the May issue of HopeDance Magazine. David Eisenberg's foreword was also published in the book, Living Homes: Sustainable Architecture and Design, by McGreggor and Trulsson. David's presentations are in demand across the country, highlighted by keynote speeches at Hawaii's first green building conference, and at the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Tributary Teams annual meeting in Baltimore.