Tucson, AZ Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

b(8), which allows a Flexible Lot Development (FLD) project to use the Maximum Density Option if it is designed and located to comply with the listed requirements. The 31 criteria are grouped into three categories: infrastructure, siting, and design, and a project must satisfy a minimum of 20 of the 31 to qualify. Infrastructure criteria include being within one-fourth mile of an existing bus line, sitting in a low water-lift zone below 2,700 feet elevation, qualifying as urban infill adjacent to an existing R-1 subdivision, and being within 1,000 feet of existing water, electric, and natural gas distribution lines of sufficient capacity.

, must provide complete shade to all windows on June 21 (manual shading devices on new construction do not qualify), and 80% of buildings must provide five hours of solar access to three-fourths the height of the south wall on December 21. Paved areas such as sidewalks and parking must be shaded with deciduous trees or architectural shading elements, with parking-area shade trees required at a ratio of two trees per 3,000 square feet of parking area within a protected landscaped area at least five feet wide.

Critically, the Technical Standards Manual specifies these Green Building Maximum Density Option requirements may not be modified through the ordinary Technical Standard Modification Request process; any request to deviate from or waive a requirement must instead go to the Board of Adjustment for approval, a higher procedural bar than standard technical deviations.