Bob Fowler Interview

At long last we are posting a reasonably sized PDF of this interview between David Eisenberg and Bob Fowler from early 2000. This originally appeared in Building Standards magazine, published by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO). Bob was chairman of the ICBO board of directors in 1994, where he initiated the consolidation of the three U.S. model code organizations (ICBO, BOCA and SBCCI) into the International Code Council (ICC). His leadership resulted in his election as the founding chairman of the ICC board. Bob's untimely death in August of 2001 was a huge loss to us and we are grateful to have this interview to remember this man, his bold vision, and pure sense of leadership. We miss him, while we dedicate this work to his memory.

Fowler Eisenberg Interview.pdf (2.8 MB)

Acknowledgement from the Codes Realm

Past International Code Council Board President Anne von Weller wrote one of her 2004 President's Messages acknowledging DCAT's work with and contributions to the building codes community, published in the May/June 2004 issue of Building Safety Journal. This accompanied the green building feature that DCAT put together for that issue of the magazine.

Ann von Weller piece.pdf (112 KB)

Straw Bale Testing

Here are links to the most recent straw bale fire tests done in Texas, where an earthen plastered wall passed the ASTM E-119 1-Hour Fire Test with Hose Stream Test, and the cement stuccoed wall passed the 2-Hour test!

Non-Bearing_Clay_Wall.pdf (2.9 MB)

Cement_Stucco_Wall.pdf (3.9 MB)

Here's a link to the video of the fire test and many other useful resources on Bruce King's Ecological Building Network site.

Here are some older links as well:

ASTM E-119 Small Scale Fire Test (New Mexico) (264K)

ASTM E84-98 Surface Burning Characteristics report (452K)

In December 2015 the California Building Standards Commission adopted Appendix S: Strawbale Construction as part of the 2016 California Residential Code (CRC), effective January 1, 2017. The California version of Appendix S is the same as the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) Appendix S: Strawbale Construction. After January 1, 2017 the existing California code - HSC 18944 - should still be usable for buildings other than one- and two-family dwellings.

Previously Adopted Pima County Codes (historical reference only)

The above referenced Pima County Codes for earthen and straw bale construction have been updated and revised as standards below. These standards are applicable in Pima County, Arizona, and referenced and often accepted within the City of Tucson. Contact the building department with questions.

Below are current links to the Pima County codes. The adoption of the 2015 IRC Appendix S - Strawbale Construction - as well as Appendix R for Light Straw-Clay will be delayed because the City of Tucson and Pima County are not planning to update their codes until the 2018 I-Codes are available. It is still possible for someone wanting to use either of these appendices to do so, as it is typically acceptable to request the use of a more current code, even if it has not yet been adopted by the jurisdiction.

Finally, here are two links to the free, read-only, online Public Access webpages where the two appendices can be viewed.

Direct free online read-only access from ICC:

2015 IRC Appendix S Strawbale Construction available here for free online viewing only through ICC public access (click to view)

2015 IRC Appendix R Light Straw-Clay Construction available here for free online viewing only through ICC public access (click to view)

Building Codes Survey

DCAT has completed our survey on the barriers to green building. The report “Breaking Down the Barriers,” can be downloaded in PDF format at the link below. Check back here for updates on follow up work to the survey.

Breaking Down the Barriers download as Acrobat .pdf (248K)

NOTE: There seems to be trouble downloading this file into an Internet Explorer window. Please download the file to disk to view it while we troubleshoot the problem.

Publications

(Building Standards and Building Safety Journal links are in the works)

Environmental Building News and DCAT collaborated in a joint effort in the September 2001 issue to present information on green building and codes. Gathered here are the resources referenced in the article:

• September 2001 EBN Sustianability and Building Codes feature.
• IBC and IRC Codes The purpose of the code, and alternative materials and methods provisions in code.
• The Checklist Steps for gaining approval for alternative building systems, developed by David Eisenberg with EBN's Peter Yost.
• Building Standards magazine articles See links above to the David Eisenberg/Bob Fowler interview in Building Standards, as well as the other articles from two issues featuring alternative building materials.
• ASTM Standardization News article by Ruth Heikkinen.
• ICC Performance Code final draft and updated information.
• Bob Fowler - in memoriam
• Links to various organizations mentioned:
  
  American Institute of Architects - Committee on the Environment (AIA COTE)
  American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
  American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
  Building Officials Code Administrators International (BOCA)
  Energy & Environmental Building Association (EEBA)
  International Codes Council (ICC)
  International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO)
  National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
  Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI)
  Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)
  U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
  
  
  

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