CalGreen for El Dorado County

CalGreen for El Dorado County

The El Dorado County Building Department requires the submission of a CalGreen Mandatory Measures checklist for all new residential and commercial building permits applications. 

Residential renovations that increase the home’s conditioned area, volume, or size require compliance with the California Green Building Standards Code (aka CalGreen). You demonstrate compliance with the code by properly filling out the CalGreen Residential Mandatory Measures Checklist and submitting it with your permit application. 

Commercial project renovations that have a permit value of $200,000 or more, or an addition greater than 1,000 square feet, require the submission of the CalGreen Non-Residential Mandatory Measures Checklist.

Under the current California Building Code adoption El Dorado County has not adopted any of the CalGreen Code Tiers for residential or commercial projects. In addition, there are no LEED or Build It Green requirements.   

The El Dorado County CalGreen Checklists

The El Dorado County Building Department requires either the submission of the HCD (Housing and Community Development) Checklist or the California AIA’s versions of the CalGreen Checklists.

California’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects created AutoCad versions of the CalGreen code’s mandatory measures and allows for anyone in the state to download and use on their residential and commercial projects. Their intent was to simplify CalGreen compliance by providing  “completed forms”. 

Unfortunately, these forms are not complete and do not provide clear guidance on how to edit or use them.

We see many projects that are submitted with the AIA forms that have simply been copied and pasted, without editing.

All AIA CalGreen forms must be edited for the specific project. Failure to do so is ensuring your project will end up costing more money than necessary. It may also result in delays to your occupancy approval as your building inspector enforces all items on your unedited checklist. 

It is important to understand that you do not have to comply with every item listed on the AIA checklists. In fact, we rarely see a project that includes all items. It takes detailed knowledge of the CalGreen Code to determine when an item applies to your project. The checklist only excerpts brief sentences from the code and does not explain the exceptions that are shown in the code itself. 

Complicating the residential checklist is that it includes requirements for multi-family projects, as well as hotels and motels.

Whether you are an owner, architect, or builder the best way to protect yourself from liabilities and project delays is to review your project with a CalGreen specialist.

You can download a PDF of the complete copy of the AIA Residential Mandatory Measures Checklist here.

The El Dorado County Building Department

When your business revolves around building codes you spend a lot of time dealing with building department’s throughout the state. Many city and county websites have little or no information about code compliance. It can be very frustrating. 

While the El Dorado County Building Department has some general information about permit applications, most of the information is out of date.

Due to the lack of clear direction form the EDC building department, as well as the general confusion over the CalGreen Code, it may be wise to engage a CalGreen specialist on your project. The cost is extremely reasonable while helping you avoid the delays and added costs of noncompliance.

Getting Help With Your CalGreen Checklist

We are specialists in CalGreen compliance for residential and commercial projects. CalGreen is all we do.

We provide CalGreen checklist services as well as CalGreen commissioning for El Dorado County projects.

We have developed in-house procedures that allow us to provide CalGreen permit documents inexpensively and quickly. We have state licensed CalGreen Special Inspectors who will review your plans and help ensure they are in compliance with the code.

In addition, we can typically provide your permit documents within two days. We understand every project has a tight schedule. We will work with you to ensure you have your permit documents when you need them.

At CalGreen Energy Services we are specialists in the CalGreen Code. CalGreen is our only business. If you have a CalGreen question please feel free to give us a call. We are happy to share our knowledge.   

Call us today and let us show you how we can help with your project.

Email: gary@calgreenenergyservices.com

Phone: 707-328-5299

How to Fill Out the CalGreen Checklist