Commission pushes for energy-saving building codes

During the past decade, environmentalism has gone from niche to mainstream, with everything from the use of canvas shopping bags and recycling containers to the purchase of fuel-efficient cars now widely popular.
When the issue moves from voluntary to mandatory measures, however, the opposition increases. Recent proposals to change local laws to increase energy efficiency have led to some heated debate in Columbia.
The city’s Environment and Energy Commission is considering the idea of requiring landlords to disclose past utility costs and pushed for new building codes that require more energy efficiency.
But members of the Environment and Energy Commission clashed with members of the Building Codes Commission over some of the estimated costs of going green.
The city is in the process of conforming to the 2009 International Building Codes, which has a chapter on energy efficiency. The Environment and Energy Commission wanted the entire chapter adopted, but the Building Codes Commission wanted only parts of it and said some of the guidelines were unnecessary and would only inflate costs.
Although they’ve reached a compromise, both the expense and payoff are still up for debate.
“We all want the same thing; we all want safe housing,” said John Page, who has been on the Building Codes Commission for more than 15 years. “But as builders, we want safe, affordable housing; that’s the key difference.”
Page said most of the changes the commission wanted were to make the code easier for builders and inspectors to understand and to cut out unnecessary regulations: for example, having to keep the thermostat at a specific setting.
The City Council approved the proposed code changes on March 21. Page said with the compromise, Columbia’s new codes will still be very energy efficient. The city has been ahead of the national code on energy for years, he said, pointing out that it addressed energy-wasting air leakage in the mid-1990s.
Dan Goldstein, a member of the Environment and Energy Commission, said he’s happy with the compromise as well.
“Our goal was to capture as much energy savings inherent in the code as possible, and we feel like, along with building codes commission, it’s possible for both builders and customers to win,” he said.
The Environment and Energy Commission made concessions on setting the thermostat and omitting the requirement that half of all lighting in new homes use high-efficiency light bulbs, Goldstein said. But he expressed pride that the EEC members stood their ground on mandating that inspections include tests on new ductwork to ensure houses are well sealed.
Goldstein predicted compliance with some of the energy-saving codes will come about naturally.
“These are really market-driven changes,” he said. “If you go to a store anymore, there are more choices for high-efficiency lighting than anything else. Market forces are pushing these things in the right direction.”

Utility cost disclosure

But Goldstein and other EEC members aren’t focusing solely on new construction. The commission is also trying to reduce energy usage in rental units and exploring the idea of making it mandatory for landlords to disclose past utility rates to potential tenants.
Goldstein said many community groups have expressed concern about the energy efficiency of apartments, especially when it comes to low-income renters living in older buildings who get hit with high utility bills they can’t afford. After meeting with different stakeholders involved, he said, they’re working to create an ordinance that is fair to everyone.
“We’re working hard to come out with a balanced ordinance and always err on the side of protecting landlords and doing the right thing,” he said. “Some landlords have tenants who always leave the windows open or decide they want their apartment at 90 degrees. … We don’t want to hurt the landlords who are doing the right thing.”
Connie Kacprowicz, spokesperson for Columbia Water & Light, said several landlords have gone through the home performance with Energy Star program to make units more efficient.
She said the city is considering compiling a resource for renters to find energy-efficient units.
“Some cities have done that, and we’re deciding whether to take the carrot or the stick approach. …” Kacprowicz said. “If they advertise the fact these units are energy efficient, it will help other landlords upgrade to keep up with the market. We’re trying to get more landlords interested.”
She said though it’s up to the City Council to decide whether to make the rate disclosure mandatory, dealing with a private company such as Ameren Missouri would make the process more difficult. (The municipal utility provides electricity to city residents, and Ameren provides natural gas.)
“Just making sure any potential renter knows they can already call and get the high and low from a place is a helpful tool,” she said. “It might not give the whole picture because everyone’s energy consumption varies according to habit,” but it’s a place to start.
Barbara Buffaloe, manager of the city’s Office of Sustainability, has been working with the Council on this issue. She also cautioned against basing a unit’s energy efficiency solely on past utility rates because the numbers don’t always tell the whole story.
“Utilities are only part of the information,” she said. “You’re not getting how many people lived there or how they used their energy.”
Michael Brown, CEO of the Columbia Board of Realtors, agreed that monthly utility rates aren’t always an accurate measure of a unit’s energy efficiency. He said if more consumers seek out truly energy-efficient rentals, the market will respond to try and meet that demand.
“Regulations are not the answer here,” Brown said. “The way to do this right is to have an educated consumer base who looks for quality construction.”

Landlord point of view

As a landlord and a member of the EEC, Lawrence Lile said he understands the different sides of both issues.
Lile said the EEC is trying to be flexible and create a market-based solution that gives landlords long-term incentives to improve the energy efficiency of their properties — without forcing them to make business decisions they might not be equipped to make.
“It’s been an ongoing problem for years…to figure out a way landlords can have an incentive to improve property,” he said. “But as a business owner, I also don’t want regulations telling me what to do, that I have to invest in my property. Maybe this isn’t the year for me to do that.”
Lile pointed out that being a landlord is one of the most common small businesses in America. He said he knows from experience that a small amount of money invested in simple things such as caulking and weather stripping can have a big impact on bills.
Some of the ideas the EEC is discussing as compromise to the mandatory disclosure is allowing landlords to share the average utility rates over a several-year period to balance out any inefficient tenants or making certain units exempt if the landlord just did an energy audit and the bills have improved.
As for the building codes, Lile said they were able to keep most of the energy-saving changes made from the 2006 to the 2009 IBC, changes he said add up to about a 12 percent savings in energy costs in our climate. He said a study funded by the Department of Energy estimated a homeowner would realize a payback in energy savings in just less than two years.
Lile has seen the impact of some of these changes firsthand. One of the things the EEC fought to include in the new building code was mandatory ductwork testing or the chance for builders to opt out of the test if they moved the ductwork from the attic, where it traditionally has been put, into the actual home.
“I helped my brother work on his house; he had all the ductwork in the attic, and his energy bills were twice his neighbor’s,” Lile said. “Heated air was leaking everywhere out of the attic, so we…fixed all the leaks we could find, and he said his bill the next month was $200 less than the February before.”
“If a contractor thinks duct testing is expensive, he can avoid the whole thing if he puts ductwork in the house so any air that leaks still stays inside,” he said. “A smart builder is going to figure out really quickly how to move it inside.”

Building Code Negotiations

What was kept:

• Mandatory tests of ductwork, the system through which heated or cooled air is conveyed throughout a building. Builders can opt out of the test if the ductwork is placed inside of the home instead of in the attic.
• Increased standards in sealing and caulking to minimize air leakage, including more efficient window requirements.
• Installation of a programmable thermostat.

What was cut:

• Requirement that 50 percent of all light bulbs installed be high-efficiency compact fluorescent. (Changed to a recommendation.)
• Requirement that programmable thermostats be set to a specific temperature during home inspections.
• Specifications deemed unnecessary in Columbia’s climate and language considered overly complicated.