Last week we covered what the Green Building Program in DC actual is. Now that you have know the basics of the Green Building Plan and the vision for the future of DC lets break down one of the major parts the Green Building Act also known as the GBA. The Green building Act has three major parts. First it establishes high performance building standards on public and private projects. Second it establishes an advisory council. Third it establishes a green building fund to operate. So how do you know if your next project falls under the GBA? Here is a break down directly from the DCRA website for Private and Public projects.
If you determine that your project falls within the scope of the GBA you will be required to follow all guidelines and are not required to comply with the GCC as well. It’s important that you make sure you are with in compliance or you may be subject to non-compliance fines. Even if you are not required to meet the standards of the GBA your not off the hook yet. You may be required to comply with the Green Construction Code. We will cover the GCC in a couple weeks here on DC permit solution blog. Keep a look out for next week’s post wrapping up the rest of the Green Building act including Exemptions to the rules. If you need any help with your permits or navigating these complicated processes let DC Permits handle the hassle for you.
- Public Projects. New construction or substantial improvement and, is either: District-owned or District instrumentality-owned project; District financed or District instrumentality financed project, with financing representing at least 15 percent of the total cost. These include:
- Project of Educational Group E occupancy
- Project containing Residential occupancies containing 10,000 square feet (929 m2) or more of gross floor area
- Interior construction of at least 50,000 contiguous square feet (4645 m2) of gross floor area of a mixed use space where residential occupancies exceed 50% of the project.
- Interior tenant fit-out alteration involving the alteration of 30,000 square feet (2787 m2) or more of gross floor area
- Interior tenant fit-out in new construction involving spaces of 30,000 square feet (2787 m2) or more of gross floor area.
- Other Non-residential projects; projects not described above, and with less than 50% of gross floor area containing residential occupancies.
- Private Projects. New construction or substantial improvement and is either: privately owned; involves improved and unimproved real property acquired by sale from the District or a District instrumentality to a private entity; unimproved real property leased from the District or a District instrumentality to a private entity; or (c) less than 15 percent of the project’s total project cost, but some portion of the project, is District financed or District instrumentality financed. These include:
- Privately-owned non-residential projects of 50,000 square feet (4645 m2) or more of gross floor area
- Interior construction of a mixed use space at least 50,000 contiguous square feet (4645 m2) of gross floor area in a Residential project.
If you determine that your project falls within the scope of the GBA you will be required to follow all guidelines and are not required to comply with the GCC as well. It’s important that you make sure you are with in compliance or you may be subject to non-compliance fines. Even if you are not required to meet the standards of the GBA your not off the hook yet. You may be required to comply with the Green Construction Code. We will cover the GCC in a couple weeks here on DC permit solution blog. Keep a look out for next week’s post wrapping up the rest of the Green Building act including Exemptions to the rules. If you need any help with your permits or navigating these complicated processes let DC Permits handle the hassle for you.
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