Section A5.409

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT A5.409.1 General. Life cycle assessment shall be ISO 14044 compliant. The service life of the building and materials assemblies shall not be less than 60 years unless designated in the construction documents as having a shorter service life as approved by the enforcing agency.

A5.409.2 Whole building life cycle assessment. Conduct a whole building life assessment, including operating energy, showing that the building project achieves at least a 10 percent improvement for at least three of the impacts listed in Section A5.409.2.2, one of which shall be climate change, compared to a reference building of similar size, function, complexity and operating energy performance, and meeting the 2016 California Energy Code at a minimum.

A5.409.2.1 Building components. The building envelope, structural elements, including footings and foundations, interior ceilings, walls and floors; and exterior finishes shall be considered in the assessment.

Exceptions:

1. Plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems and controls; fire and smoke detection and alarm systems and controls; and conveying systems.

2. Interior finishes are not required to be included.

Notes:

1. Software for calculating whole building life cycle assessments includes those found at the Athena Institute website (Impact Estimator software), the PE International website (GaBi software), and the PRe Consultants website (SimaPro software).

Copyright © 2022 by, or licensed to, International Code Council, Inc. (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED); licensed to California Building Standards Commission pursuant to License Agreement. No further reproductions is authorized. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution is a violation of the federal copyright act and the license agreement, and subject to civil and criminal penalties thereunder.

APPENDIX A5—NONRESIDENTIAL VOLUNTARY MEASURES

2. Interior finishes, if included, may be assessed using the NIST BEES tool.

A5.409.2.2 Impacts to be considered. Select from the following impacts in the assessment:

1. Climate change (greenhouse gases).

2. Fossil fuel depletion.

3. Stratospheric ozone depletion.

4. Acidification of land and water sources.

5. Eutrophication.

6. Photochemical oxidants (smog).

A5.409.3 Materials and system assemblies. If whole building analysis of the project is not elected, select a minimum of 50 percent of materials or assemblies based on life cycle assessment of at least three of the impacts listed in Section A5.409.2.2, one of which shall be climate change.

Note: Software for calculating life cycle assessments for assemblies and materials may be found at the Athena Institute web site and the NIST BEES web site.

A5.409.4 Substitution for prescriptive standards. Performance of a life cycle assessment completed in accordance with Section A5.409.2 may be substituted for other prescriptive Material Conservation and Resource Efficiency provisions of Division A5.4, including those made mandatory through local adoption of Tier 1 or Tier 2 in Division A5.6.

A5.409.5 Verification of compliance. Documentation of compliance shall be provided as follows:

1. The assessment is performed in accordance with ISO

3. The project meets the requirements of other parts of Title 24.

4. A copy of the analysis shall be made available to the enforcement authority.

5. A copy of the analysis and any maintenance or training recommendations shall be included in the operation and maintenance manual.

APPENDIX A5-20 2022 CALIFORNIA GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS CODE

Copyright © 2022 by, or licensed to, International Code Council, Inc. (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED); licensed to California Building Standards Commission pursuant to License Agreement. No further reproductions is authorized. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution is a violation of the federal copyright act and the license agreement, and subject to civil and criminal penalties thereunder.

CALIFORNIA GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS CODE – MATRIX ADOPTION TABLE

APPENDIX A5 – NONRESIDENTIAL VOLUNTARY MEASURES

DIVISION A5.5 – ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

(Matrix Adoption Tables are nonregulatory, intended only as an aid to the user.

See Chapter 1 for state agency authority and building applications.)

The state agency does not adopt sections identified by the following symbol: †.

Copyright © 2022 by, or licensed to, International Code Council, Inc. (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED); licensed to California Building Standards Commission pursuant to License Agreement. No further reproductions is authorized. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution is a violation of the federal copyright act and the license agreement, and subject to civil and criminal penalties thereunder.

APPENDIX A5

NONRESIDENTIAL VOLUNTARY MEASURES

Division A5.5 – ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY