ASHRAE 189 Update

Green Building Insider has an article that USGBC is reconstituting the ASHRAE 189 standard committee, but is committed to going forward with the code version of LEED which local governments can incorporate into their regulations.

The death of ASHRAE 189?

Buildinggreen.com had this post today stating that the ASHRAE/USGBC committee putting together the code-based version of LEED had been disbanded. http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2008/10/17/Uncertain-Future-for-ASHRAE-Standard-189/

I saw ASHRAE 189 as a mechanism for quashing the issue of incorporating LEED into regulations. Many people have voiced concerns over incorporating private standards, like LEED, into public law. This is, in my opinion, an ill-informed critique. The International Building Code is maintained by a private standards organization, the International Code Council, and is incorporated into almost every municipality's building code. I saw ASHRAE 189 as a similar model. In addition, ASHRAE 189 would have eliminated the legal risk to USGBC that the USGBC would be sued for not approving buildings quickly enough by automatically incorporating LEED standards into law without the need for approval of individual projects by USGBC. This is not good news for the regulated community.