First Tribal Community Adopts International Green Construction Code
KAYENTA, Ariz. — The Kayenta Township in Arizona recently adopted the International Green Construction Code, making it the first tribal community in the U.S. to enlist the building standard.
“We wanted to place our buildings property because were updating our general plan,” said Philbert Tso, building official for the township.
Currently, buildings are too compressed around the highway corridor, he said.
Additionally, the current codes don’t allow occupants to place new buildings where they want to due to infrastructure limitations like utilities, he said.
The township worked with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Green Building Team to develop the sustainable building codes to meet tribal priorities.
Kayenta also plans to work with the agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities to pilot the Smart Growth Guidelines program, which aims to improve community understanding and create a sustainable vision for the community through site selection and design concepts, according to Tso.
While the requirements for current buildings won’t change significantly, the code will impact the placement of new buildings in the many undeveloped areas to ensure minimum impact to the surrounding environment, Tso said.
“[The Township’s] commitment to green building design will not only protect public health, but water and energy savings means precious local resources will be preserved,” said Jared Blumenfeld, the agency’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest region.
Pictured Above: Kayenta Township’s downtown business district
Kayenta adopted the code with specific requirements related to protecting greenfields, conservation areas, and agricultural land, according to agency officials.
“The IGCC is put in place for the community to save on energy costs, encouraging wise use of the water supply, safeguarding the depletion of natural resources, and the energy codes will be used to regulate future development practices,” Tso said.
Located south of Monument Valley, the Kayenta Township is a political subdivision of the Navajo Nation and has a population of about 5,000 residents.
The township hosts restaurants, shops, hotels and other businesses, and is the future site of the Northeast Arizona Technical Institute for Vocational Education campus — a facility for career and technical education to tribal students, slated for completion in September of this year.
The campus will be the first project built using the IGCC code.