North Carolina kills effort to make its building code energy-efficient

North Carolina State Lawmakers Block Overhaul of Residential Building Codes Until 2031

Building codes are a vital tool for states to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. But in a drastic move, North Carolina state lawmakers have just made it illegal for the state to overhaul its residential building codes until 2031.

Background

On Wednesday, North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature overrode Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of House Bill 488, passing it into law. The law strips authority from the state’s Building Code Council (BCC) to revise residential building standards. The BCC had planned a major overhaul this year to update the state’s codes for new single-family and multifamily homes, which haven’t seen a significant revision for more than a decade.

Instead, HB 488 puts that power in the hands of a new entity, the Residential Code Council, which will be barred from undertaking a broader code revision until 2031. The bill was supported and largely crafted by lobbyists for the North Carolina Home Builders Association, which argued that updated codes would increase building costs, and thus housing costs, in the fast-growing state.

The Impact

Multiple studies suggest that the updates would actually save households money, while the eight-year pause will cost them on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary energy expenses. Bringing the state up to date on building new homes and multifamily buildings with more efficient windows and doors, insulation, heating and cooling equipment, and materials that make them more resistant to extreme weather would not only save residents money but also help the state meet its decarbonization plans. The ban will also likely make the state ineligible for federal funding from sources including the Inflation Reduction Act and drive up insurance costs for storm-threatened coastal communities.

“Based on independent analysis, adopting these standards is just a win across the board,” Zach Amittay, Southeast advocate for nonprofit group Environmental Entrepreneurs, said in a Thursday interview. “At the end of the day, this is, unfortunately, a reflection of the influence that homebuilders have on the legislature.”

The Battle over Building Codes and Climate Policy

Building emissions have become a flashpoint in the battle over climate policy between Republicans and Democrats. States controlled by Democrats have passed laws or instituted regulations that alter building codes to increase efficiency, promote the switch from fossil-fueled heating and cooking to efficient electric heat pumps and induction stoves, and restrict the use of fossil gas in new buildings.

Republican-controlled states have, in turn, passed laws restricting the right of cities and counties to ban fossil gas use in new buildings, with gas utilities spending heavily on lobbying and public relations campaigns in support.

Building codes, which are administered at the state, county, or city level depending on the region, have gotten less attention comparatively, although they’ve seen their own lower-profile battles. Some Republican-controlled states have blocked code upgrades. For years, climate and energy-efficiency advocates have fought homebuilders and gas utilities for influence over the International Code Council, a nonprofit body that sets model building codes used as a basis for state and local governments.

These codes largely govern new construction, limiting their impact on energy efficiency and carbon emissions from existing buildings, which account for roughly one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But they’re still “a huge opportunity to get very significant gains in building performance at minimal cost,” said Luis Martinez, senior attorney and director of Southeast energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Once the walls are up, it’s much more costly to install new insulation.”

The Benefits of Modern Building Codes

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that modern energy codes for residential and commercial buildings will enable $138 billion in energy cost savings and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 900 million metric tons from 2010 to 2040. The impact is greater in places with more construction like North Carolina, which ranks in the top 10 states for new homes.

That makes HB 488 “a significant setback for North Carolina’s clean energy and climate goals,” Martinez said. North Carolina has a goal to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation by 70 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, and “buildings are a significant part of energy consumption. To not be able to update the use of energy within buildings blocks off a significant and cost-effective opportunity to address emissions.”

Sparring over the Costs and Benefits of Building Codes

The homebuilding industry’s argument against adopting modern building codes boils down to one word: cost. The North Carolina Home Builders Association argued that the average cost of new homes would increase by about $20,000 under the update planned by the state Building Code Council.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 13: Climate Action

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 7.3: By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
• SDG 11.2: By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all
• SDG 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article mentions the following indicators:

• Energy cost savings
• Reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
• Reduction in carbon emissions from electricity generation

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: canarymedia.com

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