Building Codes
Single-Stair Reform Gains Strength
The movement to legalize single-stair multi-story buildings is gathering momentum, with the typology offering a more efficient, flexible, and healthy way to build housing.
A Guide to Regulating Adaptive Reuse
How building codes and zoning laws can guide the safe and effective conversion of existing properties to residential units.
California Building Code to Add Bike Parking Requirements
Convenient and secure bike parking can make a major impact on whether people adopt biking as a daily transportation option.
Berkeley Voters to Decide on Building Gas Tax
The city could tax large buildings that use gas in lieu of enacting a law that would have banned gas-powered buildings altogether.
Op-Ed: Making Housing More Affordable Through Modular Construction
A relatively minor change to the federal government’s regulations on modular construction could bring down the cost of building and deploying modular housing to more communities facing housing shortages.
Chicago Looks to Boulder Landlord Registry as a Model for Tenant Protections
Unlike the Colorado city, where code violations in rental housing are quickly identified and fixed, Chicago lacks a robust system of inspection and enforcement.
California First in the Nation to Limit Embodied Carbon in Buildings
California’s Building Code accomplished a first-in-the-nation step to mitigate carbon emissions from the construction and maintenance of buildings, by limiting embodied carbon in some commercial and school buildings.
Rooftop Solar Hampered by New York City Fire Code
Requirements in the NYFD fire code make it costly and difficult to achieve the city’s solar installation goals.
How a Staircase Requirement Can Impact Housing Affordability
Critics of the double-staircase mandate for multi-story buildings argue that it does little to improve fire safety while raising the costs of housing construction and limiting community interaction.
Industry Continues to Push Back Against Carbon-Slashing Building Codes
The battle over the efficiencies and infrastructure required in building codes continues.
Colorado Springs Drafts New Regional Annexation Plan
A regional planning proposal in El Paso County, Colorado calls for uniform standards for unincorporated developments, which would make it easier to receive city services if annexed in the future.
Industry Wins a Round Over Building Efficiency Requirements
New regulations prohibit cities from enacting stricter efficiency standards in new buildings.
Los Angeles Streamlines ADU Permits with High-Design Templates
Los Angeles' ADU Standard Plan Program will offer homeowners a set of pre-approved designs that will save them time and money.
Seattle Limits Natural Gas in New Construction
More cities are banning the use of natural gas in new buildings. Seattle is the latest example.
Adapting Building Codes to Natural Disasters Saves Billions
New research shows that modern building codes have prevented around $27 billion in damage from natural disasters between 2000 and 2016, yet many cities still operate under decades-old regulations.
Code Enforcement as Coronavirus Response Policy
The Center for Community progress offers advice on effective code enforcement during a time of extreme economic duress.
States Mandating Housing Deregulation
Housing deregulation for the sake of housing affordability made progress in both Democratic- and Republican-led states last year.
Height Limits, Roof Deck Ban Killed by Philly Planning Commission's Pocket Veto
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission made a "rare how of power" in using a variety of "pocket veto" to kill proposed height and roof deck restrictions in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia.
New York Largest U.S. City to Require Bird-Friendly Building Materials
The New York City Council approved Proposed Initiative 1482B by an overwhelming margin, ensuring bird-friendly design and construction practices in the largest U.S. city.
A New Kind of Planning Controversy: the Emoji House
A complaint about an illegal Airbnb, a very visual response, and a headache for city officials in the city of Manhattan Beach, California.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Edmonds
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
