Sierra Club calls for stricter building codes

The Missouri Sierra Club held a news conference at the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield’s 2013 Home Show on Jan. 20 to draw attention to the fact that the city has not adopted more stringent building standards, similar to those implemented in Kansas City, St. Louis and the state of Illinois.

Harry Alper, a St. Louis-based organizer with the Missouri chapter of the Sierra Club, said the group is calling for the Queen City to enact energy efficiency requirements outlined in the 2012 International Residential Building Codes, which would result in dropping utility costs by 34 percent for owners of newly constructed homes, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates. In March 2012, Springfield City Council adopted the latest series of international codes but passed on the energy efficient requirements, keeping in place the 2006 standards. According to the Energy Department, Missourians would save $7,800 during a 30-year period with 2012 standards in place.

“By reducing our energy usage, it will help clean the air of pollution from dirty, coal-fired power plants. But the Home Builders Association insists on building homes that are inefficient, outdated and underperforming – [homes] that are drafty and too expensive to heat and cool,” Alper said.

Among the changes to the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code updated from 2006 standards by the International Code Council, are performance testing on homes for energy loss; increases in wall, floor and ceiling requirements; mandates on insulation for certain hot water pipes and for all pipes exceeding specified lengths; energy efficient lighting through 75 percent of the house up from 10 percent; and increases in window energy performance.

According to a 2012 study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders, the changes would add roughly $8,000 to the cost of a home and result in $627 in annual energy savings from homeowners. NAHB officials said it would take the average homeowner 13 years to pay back the investment in energy savings.

At the Springfield Home Show this month, Sierra Club members picketed with two signs made of insulation. Alper said the group was reminding homebuilders they are neglecting key products in the homes they are constructing. “A little more insulation, a tightly built home and efficient appliances can go a very long way in making a home affordable,” Alper said.

George Van Hoesen, a partner with Ozark-based contractor Global Green Building LLC, said updating the city’s energy efficiency codes might add to the price of home construction, but it would increase affordability by reducing monthly expenses.

He said his company built six homes in Joplin following the May 2011 EF-5 tornado with insulated concrete forms.

“We’ve been talking with clients before and afterwards, and we are hearing they are saving more than $100 per month,” Van Hoesen said. “And this is at the $80 per square foot home price, not the $125 per square foot price. The idea is that it can be very affordable to be energy efficient.

“By not adopting the 2012 energy codes, what we are saying is it is not important to save money for our clients.”

Matt Bailey, an area homebuilder with Bailey Co. and past-president of the Greater Springfield HBA, said board members have ongoing dialogue with city officials in Building Development Services. Last year, he said HBA members had expressed concerns about the affordability of changes.

“There were pieces and parts of it that we felt were costly for first-time homebuyers,” Bailey said. “If you add up to $8,000 to the cost of a home, it could be hard for any homebuyers, but especially first-time homebuyers.”

He said the board would support amending the energy codes should pricing and availability of such services becomes more reasonable. “We believe in energy efficiency – I tell everyone that,” he said, noting the HBA spent $30,000 in the last two years to help members become certified green professionals through the NAHB. “Houses are more energy efficient than they’ve ever been.”

According to the HBA, there were roughly 90 NAHB-certified home starts last year in the 10-county area the HBA serves. By comparison, there were 111 single-family homes permitted in Springfield in 2012.

Springfield Building Development Services Director Chris Straw said the city this year plans to revisit the stricter 2012 standards, but it would do it piece by piece and only recommend changes with broad agreement from the development community.  

“At that time, we said, ‘Wait. This is a bigger animal than we can tackle all at once,’” Straw said. “We said we’ll stay with ’06 [codes], and in 2013, we’ll look at preparing an addendum and take it off in small chunks.”

He said the city plans to engage various stakeholders such as HBA, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Development Issues Input Group and the newly created 16-member Springfield-Greene County Green Building Task Force, which is expected to make policy recommendations in the spring.

Several communities in the greater Kansas City area are following Kansas City’s lead and adopting a modified version of 2012 standards, according to Dennis Murphy, the city’s chief environmental officer.

He said Kansas City officials have implemented a climate-protection plan, making code updates a priority. However, in working with contractors and groups such as the Greater Kansas City HBA, city officials agreed the ICC codes could be closely followed but adapted to avoid major increases in costs to local builders. By adjusting items such as lighting requirements but keeping insulation standards, he estimated new homeowners are still saving more than 20 percent on energy bills compared to 2006 requirements.

While Alper acknowledged homebuilders such as Van Hoesen already are building to higher energy efficient standards due to market demand and not regulatory requirement, he said having the right codes in place is good policy for all builders.

“The purpose of building codes is to make sure that every home on the market is safe and meets a minimum standard for performance,” Alper said.

Van Hoesen said the city of Springfield shouldn’t wait too long to make changes.

“We shouldn’t be afraid of change,” Van Hoesen said. “I think the time to adopt is now because in another two to four years, we are going to have a new set of energy codes.”