Warning - Long post ahead

At a City, State and Federal level we are seeing a ton of new and proposed Legislation in regards to how we can build Residential Properties.  We are seeing stuff from Safety with Electrical, Products that can be used as well as just the Building Codes in General.

Here in Texas, we have Building Codes not only at the State level, but within every City and County as well.  What is interesting is that they are all different.

Most of the Codes when you read about them are referring to both the IRC/ICC and IECC - (International Residential/Construction Codes and International Energy Code Council) Every year there is a new code that focuses not only on Energy, but safety and other items that relate to Residential Construction.

This all gets really confusing but can also be one of the leading causes to an increased Build Cost - especially when it comes to Energy Efficiency. The product costs more and by the way - Is there even enough product manufactured to be able to mandate this?

Within the next 18 months it could possibly get even more confusing.  I mentioned how all of the areas have different building code requirements, right?  Well, Let's start with a break down:

• The State of Texas is currently under the 2001 International Residential Code for Energy Efficiency.
• In order to be considered as an Energy Star Builder the home must exceed the STATE building code by 15%
• The City of Houston, last year, accepted the 2006 Energy Codes from the IRC.  A whole 5 years above the State level...and probably now exceeds Energy Star qualifications
• The City of Dallas from my understanding is also at 2006
• The City of Austin, I heard through the grapevine, just adopted the 2009 Codes!?!?!?  Leading the way in Energy Efficiency

Now, that may not mean anything to some people, but what it does show is that the State as a whole is significantly behind the 3 largest Cities in the State when it comes to Building Code and Energy Efficiency.  Needless to say, do you think that maybe an increase in State Building Code is too far away?  With reason of course.

Actually, it is proposed this year in State Bill 16 to raise the entire State Building Code to the IRC 2009. 

This would be possibly above the lowest level of Environments for Living - I don't even know how that compares to Energy Star - And what the heck?  A complete 8 years above what the State Building Code currently sits at?

Now, I don't really honestly know how I feel about all of this.  In a way, it is a fantastic idea.  Energy Efficiency after all does make for a more affordable home to LIVE in, but not necessarily to purchase.

What concerns me though is the disconnect between Legislation, Some of the builders, the Real Estate Professional Community and the Consumer - Homebuyers.

IF - BIG If - this goes through within 12 months or so we could see an entirely new system in place on how to build homes.  It would not just be whether or not the home has a SEER 13 or SEER 14 Air Conditioner, it would be about the HERS Rating and how tight the envelope of the home is...along with the Mechanical Ventilation otherwise known as Air Exchanges per hour.

Now, to top it off - What does this do to Existing homes?  After all, there are more Existing Homes than homes that will be built for many, many years.  How in the world can a home built in 1972 compare with the Energy Performance of 2009?

In Houston, and I have mentioned this before, we still have a ton of homes built in the 20's and 40's.  Even more built in the 70's and 80's and so on.

While I believe that a higher building code is a good thing, we need to remember the Existing Homes out there from Resale and Carbon Footprint perspective.  They use more energy.  No way around it.  Often times the appliances are NOT Energy Star, they still have single pane windows, poor insulation and duct work that needs extensive work if not replaced.  If our main goal is to reduce Energy Usage and to have a lower Carbon Footprint, mandating new construction guidelines will not make as near of an impact as it would if we put Incentives out there for Existing Properties.

Possibly instead of raising the building code this year, we could put some money in to Retrofitting Existing Homes to a higher level?

To do an extensive Energy Remodel on a home, it could potentially cost the Homeowner upwards of $30,000 or more.  This is not something that the average Homeowner can afford. 

We also need to put some money in to Education of both Trades AND the Public. 

This Disconnect needs to come together a little bit.  How do we do this?  I don't know.  But there are a ton of proposed Bills in place at the State level this year.  We need to consider a State of Texas backed Consumer Awareness Program on Energy Efficiency.

Maybe some Town Hall meetings on how to make your home more Energy Efficient? I have no idea, just thinking out loud here. 

The City of Houston will be opening up their Green Building Resource Center in just 2 weeks.  I am anxious to see what all they do to promote Energy Efficiency and Education.  But how about the outer lying Unincorporated Areas? 

We need to strongly reconsider what we are doing with Mandated Building Codes.  They are a wonderful thing to have in place, but we need to be careful and not put the carriage before the horse.  Can we possibly consider making the State Energy Code 2009 by the year 2011 or something?  Even then we would only be behind a couple years as opposed to the almost 9 that we are today.