City of Tempe, AZ
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On Thursday, Nov. 30, Tempe City Council approved the adoption of a voluntary International Green Code that could be used for new commercial buildings. Additionally, Tempe City Council committed to using the International Green Code on all future city facility construction (Resolution No. R2023.178).
Green codes like IgCC reduce Green House Gas emissions, mitigate heat island effects, reduce water consumption, decrease dependency on fossil fuels, increase building life spans and heat resiliency while promoting native, desert-adaptive landscaping and structural shade.
Read more about this code adoption here.
Find the City of Tempe adopted International Green Construction Code HERE (Ordinance NO. O2023.54).
Chapter 6 Water Use Efficiency
Chapter 8 Indoor Environmental Quality
Chapter 9 Materials and Resources
Chapter 10 Construction and Plans for Operations
Benefits of IgCC
- Reduces GHG Emissions coming from the built environment
- Increases life span of building
- Reduces heat island affect
- Promotes tree planting; shade and rain water harvesting applications
- Promotes structural shade
- Improves heat resiliency
- Reduces water consumption
- Improves access to EV Charging
- Reduces dependency on fossil fuels
- Reduction of day to day costs year over year
What We Have Done So Far
The 2022 Climate Action Plan Update calls out adopting the IgCC as a highlight action. Learning from Scottsdale, San Jose, and Israel (see roadmap above) approaches to using building code to advance sustainability and urban cooling. The City of Tempe has used the draft IgCC to help guide construction of three new municipal buildings - Fire Station #2, Tempe Municipal Operations Center, and Clark Park. This process has allowed the city and our partners to better understand IgCC requirements and cater the code to meet our unique Tempe needs and desires. Refining the code to be successful for the city, developers and our community is the ultimate goal.
Additional News and Resources
International Code Council Overview of IgCC - link
Scottsdale, AZ Adopts mandatory green building requirements - news link
USGBC Benefits of green buildings - article
LEED buildings and the IgCC - article