15
T
he Building and Energy Code
Subcommittee of the Government
Affairs Committee has focused on
two main issues. The first is that as of July
1
st
, 2014, the 2012 International Energy
Conservation Code (IECC) is in effect in
Massachusetts but only for non-stretch
code cities and towns. It is important to
remember that according to the Green
Communities Act of 2008, Massachusetts
municipalities can opt to sign up for
the energy “stretch code” requirements,
which normally are more stringent than the base energy code.
It also requires that Massachusetts accept the latest Energy
Conservation Code within a year of its being released. However,
the stretch code requirements have never been updated to
reflect the 2012 Energy code. So we are in the peculiar position
whereby cities and town which have not elected to follow the
stretch energy code actually have more stringent regulations to
follow, since stretch code towns are still following the stretch
requirements associated with the 2009 Energy Code.
At the same time, the 2012 IECC has very stringent
requirements, particularly in the areas of air changes per hour,
and duct leakage. Many members of our Association have
struggled to meet the new standards, causing much confusion
and unnecessary costs. The subcommittee prepared and
submitted to the Board of Building Regulation and Standard
(BBRS) proposals to make the air changes and the duct leakage
requirements less onerous. The proposal is still waiting to be
heard by the BBRS, and it is not even clear if the BBRS can rule
on this issue. Instead, it may be that we need legislative action
to effect reform. For the air changes requirement especially,
there are serious health and safety issues, as unnecessarily tight
houses mean insufficient ventilation. Quite often even after
builders install mechanical ventilation, homeowners disable
them, due to high operating costs and noise issues.
The second main issue discussed by our subcommittee has to
do with the development of the next set of building codes. In
Massachusetts, the BBRS is in the process of getting the next
version of the building codes ready to be released. Nationally,
the International Code Council (ICC) is also working on its next
set of codes. We have discussed how we can most positively
influence these important deliberations. We constantly face
pressure on many fronts on unnecessarily stringent and costly
codes. One code issue that never ends for our association
is the push for a requirement to install sprinklers in single
family homes. We have to work hard to fight this, since we
are outnumbered by firefighters, sprinkler companies, and
insurance carriers. Building entry level and starter homes
especially becomes more and more impossible as time goes by
and regulatory costs increase dramatically.
At the same time, the ICC is switching to electronic voting on
the new national codes, and we need to get officials sympathetic
to keeping building costs reasonable to sign up to vote. Officials
who are normally the most motivated to register and vote are
those who want to impose ever greater burdens on our industry.
Our Subcommittee will continue to work hard on our members’
behalf on all of these important issues.
By Gary Campbell, COO, Gilbert S. Campbell, Inc., and Chair, HBRAM’s Building and Energy Codes Subcommittee
Government
A F FA I R S
Code Changes Continue to
Be the Focus of Subcommittee
By Gary Campbell
