SierraScape December 2008 - January 2009
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by Becky Denney
Contributing Member/Cool Cities Mobilizer
The vote on the 30% Solution at the International Code Council in September, 2008 was called "America's most significant energy, environmental and climate policy vote of 2008," by Bill Fay of the Energy Efficiency Code Coalition. The 30% Solution was actually a package of codes proposed to update the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The IECC is the model energy code used by 44 states to set minimum energy efficiency requirements for residential and commercial new construction. The voting is done by code officials sent from cities, states, and some federal entities across the nation.
Since this vote set the minimum standard for energy efficiency of new residences for the next three years there were many groups such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors, The Alliance to Save Energy, Architecture 2030, ICLEI, the Sierra Club and the U.S. Department of Energy that supported the improvements. ICLEI even offered free travel for local government reps that attended the hearing. Each city that joins the ICC can have as many as 4 voting officials but larger entities such as St. Louis or St. Louis County can have as many as 12.
It is estimated that there will be more than three million homes built in the United States through 2012 so an improvement in the 2009 codes which make these buildings more energy efficient will affect homeowner energy use for generations. Once the homes are built it is expensive to retrofit them. A June 2008 report by McKinsey Global Institute about mitigating CO2 emissions cites these very measures as being the most cost effective ways to fight climate change.
While the package didn't pass there were important energy efficiency improvements that were approved in Minneapolis such as increased insulation in basements, floors and walls, improved window efficiency, reduction in wasted energy from leaky heating and cooling ducts, high-efficiency lighting, and improved air sealing within the building envelope. One estimate was that the measures would lead to 15% energy efficiency improvement.
Once the IECC is upgraded local governments must vote the changes into their codes so while the code officials voted in September, we citizens can ultimately see that our local codes are more energy efficient. We can encourage our city, county, and state officials to send reps to the International Code Council. While the vote at the International Code Council remains in the hands of our code officials, we can have a say in how many are sent to the conference and how they vote.