I am on the mailing list for many news feeds and this article from the San Francisco Chroniclecaught my eye regarding the direction that green building codes are taking:"To build green, you need to know the code", by Philip S. Wenz. The gist of the article is that the building code will allow builders to use alternative building materials or methods, as long as their safety can be proven. According to the article, testing of these alternative methods has been slow, although theInternational Code Councilhas been developing a green building certification program for inspectors.

Speaking of the ICC, it recently launched a new green service. SAVE will focus on the verification of the environmental attributes of products in nine categories.