A code change proposal from NC Home Builders Association that was approved by the North Carolina Building Code Council in December has been “shelved indefinitely” after being flagged for a lack of credible and thorough cost analysis by Rules Review Committee. The proposal is now in the NC Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) where it may stay for months, if not longer.
NCBPA worked with a small group of members and code advocacy partners to vigorously oppose the NCHBA proposal, which would create a new optional residential energy code compliance pathway without any minimum energy efficiency requirements or building envelope backstops. Both of these requirements are included in the existing Energy Rating Index optional pathway that NCBPA successfully advocated for, currently available in North Carolina’s 2018 Residential Energy Code.
This situation provides a clear example of how the strong influence of the state and national home building industry on the Council continues to allow proposals that lack justification to be approved by a majority of Council members despite warnings from Council members themselves and advocates, but then kicked back following regulator review. A year and a half ago, a proposal that will soon be heard anew at the next Council meeting in March was also pushed back by Rules Review Committee for the very same reasons after being flagged by NCBPA and advocacy partners.
NCBPA will continue to monitor the status of this proposal and will again flag the upcoming D item at the March meeting, which creates a lack of insulation product parity and is being pushed secretly by the spray foam industry, for Rules Review to ensure that it does not become code. Similar to this recent proposal, this item lacks cost justification and contains technical errors that were flagged by NCBPA and allies upon being first presented. Unfortunately, these errors have been ignored thus far and the proposal is up for final approval on March 9th.
Read more about NCBPA’s prior work to oppose these two proposals:
“North Carolina Panel Moves to Weaken Building Energy Conservation Rules”
“Why I’m Fighting the Home Building Industry’s Latest Attempt…”
“Oppose Harmful Residential Energy Code Proposals”
“NCBPA Members Lead Opposition to Harmful Residential Energy Code Proposals”
