Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
3 <br />j. Take advantage of compact building design by incorporating more <br />compact building design as an alternative to conventional land <br />consumptive development. <br />2) Green building standards acknowledge these ten Smart Growth principles and <br />introduce energy conservation and efficiency in conjunction with community <br />sustainability, as additional essential principles. Green building is a holistic process <br />that addresses a broad range of issues, which include <br />a. Community and site design, <br />b. Energy efficiency, <br />c. Water conservation, <br />d. Resource efficient material selection, <br />e. Indoor environmental quality, <br />f. Construction management, <br />g. Building maintenance and monitoring of building efficiency. <br />A variety of green building standards are embedded in existing County Code that <br />implement county environmental goals and policies. These various ordinances and <br />regulations are consistent with and derive their basis from the County Comprehensive <br />Plan. The Plan was first adopted in 1981 and has been amended several times since <br />then. The County, through its many advisory boards, commissions, and task forces, is <br />presently updating its Comprehensive Plan. The following documents compose a suite <br />of land development regulations that presently impose a level of green building <br />standards on private landowners and developers. <br />a. Zoning Ordinance through minimum lot sizes, set backs, stream buffers, <br />impervious cover restrictions, outdoor lighting, and special use permit approval <br />conditions. <br />b. Subdivision Regulations through required open space, tree and natural area <br />protection regulations, recycling requirement, and landscaping requirements. <br />c. Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance that prohibits new construction in flood <br />hazard areas and requires retrofitting for all substantial improvement or <br />substantial repair to existing buildings. <br />d. Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance to regulate erosion and <br />sedimentation arising from public and private sector land development. <br />e. Environmental Stewardship Action Team is developing a number of <br />environmental policies, which may include new BOCC policy initiatives, <br />objectives and a set of action statements and metrics to guide future Orange <br />County governmental business decisions. <br />f. The Environmental Resources Conservation Department administers the Lands <br />Legacy program and helps produce the State of the Environment report. <br />g. Solid Waste Ordinance developed to regulate construction and demolition debris <br />generated from new~construction requiring separation of corrugated cardboard, <br />clean wood, and scrap metal. <br />h. The North Carolina State Building Codes require a myriad of energy and water <br />conservation regulations, which are currently being required in all new <br />construction and some existing buildings that are components of the green <br />building umbrella. <br />