A story's been posted on BuildingGreen.com that ASHRAE has unexpectedly pulled the plug on the Standard 189 development committee. This standard is supposed to be "a new minimum, code-enforceable standard for green buildings." The USGBC and IES have been working with ASHRAE on the project since 2006, and were apparently ambushed by ASHRAE's decision to shake up the process. From the article: "Speaking off the record, multiple sources reported signs that ASHRAE had been influenced by various trade associations, which were either unsupportive of ASHRAE's involvement in a green building standard as an engineering association, or had objections to basic premises of the standard, such as its approach to various building materials." Read the story "Uncertain Future for ASHRAE Standard 189." - - - - - Before I could get this online, one of the authors of the story, Tristan Korthals Altes, posted this in the comments area (where subscribers can add their thoughts to any content page of the website) following the piece: "Since this article went online, we spoke with Jeff Littleton, the executive v.p. for ASHRAE. He emphasized ASHRAE's intention to reconstitute the committee, potentially with many of the same members and possibly a few additional ones, and to proceed with work on the standard. This process is likely to take 30-45 days, he says. Whether or not the standard continues on its current — and fairly stringent — course will be up to the committee." Good news, but I'm still concerned about some of the issues raised about how and why this all transpired.