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Salt Lake City, Utah — Oct. 21, 2014 – This summer, ARCOM released its innovative new cloud-based sustainability resource for MasterSpec.
This new software tool allows architects and specifiers to quickly select their sustainability preferences from an easy-to-use interface, and to globally apply them throughout each MasterSpec specification section, thereby making the production of accurate specifications more efficient.
"Users can globally select a rating system and have all of the related requirements automatically included throughout the specification section," said Matt Johnson, chief technology officer. "This interface makes it much quicker and easier to make these selections than if you had to read, edit, and coordinate them yourself."
To build this new sustainability feature and provide MasterSpec users with an enhanced experience, ARCOM’s staff carefully evaluated the requirements of various green building rating systems, codes, and standards. After reviewing these rating systems, and to further support sustainable design initiatives, ARCOM has included the following requirements in MasterSpec:
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 189.1 – ASHRAE 189.1, Standard for the Design of High- Performance Green Buildings, provides a foundation for green buildings and is a compliance option in the IgCC.
• U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC's) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4 – The latest version of LEED, USGBC’s pioneering green building rating system.
• USGBC’S LEED 2009 – USGBC’s green building rating system that is the precursor to LEED v4.
• International Code Council's 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) – IgCC regulates construction of new and remodeled commercial buildings and is the first model code to feature sustainability measures for the entire construction project and its site, from design through occupancy.
• Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes – An interactive environmental building design and management tool that includes online assessment protocol, a rating system, and guidance for designing, operating, and managing green buildings.
“This has been an intensive process that has leveraged the knowledge of our full staff of specification experts to complete, but ARCOM is committed to integrating the latest green rating systems into MasterSpec," said Paul Brosnahan, AIA, CCS, ARCOM's vicd president of architectural specifications.
ARCOM is the leader in specifications and exclusively publishes MasterSpec for The American Institute of Architects (AIA) for use by architects, engineers, landscape architects, specification writers, and design professionals involved in building projects.
