A week ago, fossil fuel companies Won the victory in 11 hours Lobby private groups that create national model building codes to eliminate rules that make it cheaper for homeowners to switch to electricity in the fight to remove climate-friendly measures from the next national home building guidelines. It was very successful.
Congressional Democrats have called for the gas industry's influence on the International Code Council process.real scandal”
Now, some Republican lawmakers want to go further to prevent the U.S. from wasting power and heat even as Americans struggle to pay rising utility bills. thinking. Public works debt hits record high.
Two top House Republicans tasked with overseeing the Energy Department are slowing a program that helps states and cities adopt new, most energy-efficient standards despite lobbying from fossil fuel companies. This is putting pressure on the Department of Energy. What ICC has written so far.
“We believe that the Department of Energy’s Building Standards Subsidy Program is exacerbating the current housing affordability crisis by encouraging the adoption of one-size-fits-all building codes that are neither appropriate nor cost-effective for housing, and that the US We are concerned about limiting the energy choices of our people, and we are targeting all income levels and regions of the country.” I have written Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-Wash.), chair of the committee's subcommittee on the energy grid.
their letters are This means that the volatile and highly technical process of updating building codes, which have provided a degree of uniformity to real estate developers across America for three decades, is becoming embroiled in a partisan culture war. This is the latest sign of this.
![House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) testifies before the House Rules Committee.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/6605ba8b22000053314b8b26.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
![House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) testifies before the House Rules Committee.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/6605ba8b22000053314b8b26.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
There are no formal national building codes in the United States.instead state and city Choose which third-party standards to codify into law and when.
For example, Illinois adopts a new ICC code that is released every three years, so builders in this blue state must always follow the greenest version of the code.
In contrast, the more conservative state of Idaho has not updated its code beyond the ICC's 2009 version and has proposed blocking municipalities from making any further progress.
The reason the Gem State is even using a 15-year-old ICC code rather than something more lenient is due to a 2007 rule that gives the federal government at least some influence over state building codes. The law would require federal agencies to analyze the latest ICC regulations within one year of publication to determine whether the regulations actually reduce wasted electricity and heat and raise housing construction costs unduly. It is mandatory to judge whether it is something that will push the situation upward. If approved by these agencies, the new ICC code would be incorporated into federal home loan eligibility requirements to ensure that new homes meet energy efficiency standards.
In reality, the government has moved slowly through this process. In 2015, the Obama administration established meeting the 2009 ICC rules as a minimum requirement for receiving a federal mortgage, but the mortgage rules have not been updated since then. The Biden administration has indicated it intends to update them, but the effort remains stalled in the federal bureaucracy.
For more carrots than sticks, President Joe Biden's landmark climate change law, the Inflation Control Act, will help state and territorial regulators enact stricter, energy-efficient regulations. allocated more than $1 billion to
![New home construction is seen in Kennesaw, Georgia on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/6605baba23000053006579dc.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
![New home construction is seen in Kennesaw, Georgia on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/6605baba23000053006579dc.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
In December, the Department of Energy announced that local states and territories are seeking assistance in „adoption and implementation of updated model codes, zero-energy codes, and customized and innovative codes that achieve comparable energy savings.“ It provided $530 million to regulators. Latest model and zero energy code. ”
In a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Republican lawmakers accused the Department of Energy of not clearly defining what those words mean.
The four-page letter presses Granholm on seemingly unrelated points, including whether the administration supports legislation banning electricity from nuclear power plants.
On the contrary, nuclear power is the largest source of zero-carbon electricity, which is heavily subsidized by the Biden administration. Unprecedented $1.5 billion loan announced this week that it will restart a recently shuttered nuclear power plant in Michigan.
The letter also misleadingly describes the impact of updating to more stringent standards. The standards apply to new buildings and are designed to avoid costly retrofits.
“States and local governments should not be forced to adopt the International Energy Code, which sets efficiency requirements, prohibits the use of natural gas, and requires expensive electrification retrofits to charge appliances and electric vehicles. No,” the lawmakers wrote.
But the whole point of raising standards for new buildings in the first place is to help future homeowners avoid expensive renovations down the line.
The building code, which the ICC removed from its latest codebook this month, required developers to wire new residential and commercial buildings with circuits for appliances, heat pumps and car chargers.federal investigation show It costs more than $2,100 to rewire a wall that has already been built to install a heat pump, compared to just $500 to incorporate the circuit during construction.
almost 90% Five of the experts who participated in the ICC's latest coding process supported the pro-electrification rule. But industry groups representing gas utilities and furnace manufacturers challenged the provision last fall, filing a last-minute appeal. The ICC's Appeals Committee dismissed all appeals this month. However, the ICC Board of Directors ignored their own staff We decided to accept the gas company's request last week.
This change is already having an impact. New York City was preparing to implement updated norms last week. Countries surprised by ICC ruling Postponed the The regulatory process will be completed within three months.