NYC Reshapes Its "DNA" with Building Code Revisions

The report refers to building codes as “the DNA of a city—rules that are applied many times over [with] an exponential impact on how the city functions.” Russell Unger, executive director of Urban Green Council, the New York chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, says one benefit of the code review process has been to draw attention to the importance of codes: for example, while most of the 29 individual code changes in the last two years “are not headline items, the largest changes in water consumption will be the result of slight tweaks to our codes.” A City Council spokesperson agrees: “Each little law in itself may not seem important, but all together they make a serious difference. For a government agency, it’s pretty amazing.”