After months of debate, the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) passed amended commercial and residential energy codes that, while intended to provide a “fossil fuel pathway” to meet federal requirements, still significantly restricts the use of gas in new buildings. The major change was to move from a mandate for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters to using a more aggressive credit table to force builders in that direction.
Although the new code does allow some credits for gas, the amount of credits available to builders will make it very difficult for installation of gas appliances in both commercial and residential construction. In addition, the SBCC doubled down on “electric readiness” in commercial buildings, maintaining the requirement for expensive electrical connections to be installed wherever a gas appliance is used. In addition, the residential code’s allowance of an energy efficient gas furnace as a heat pump back up has resulted in a requirement that no current gas furnace appears to meet.
All of this will result in higher costs for builders, home buyers and renters – and could put these new clean energy buildings out of the reach of many low income citizens in the state. They also will jeopardize the ability to provide auxiliary heat to homes and multi-family residences resulting in more expensive, after-market installations.
The fight is not over….
The adoption of these codes is still controversial in terms of how they were adopted under the state’s Administrative Procedures Act. In addition, questions still exist over whether or not the codes continue to violate the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) particularly since the 9th District Court in the Berkeley case specifically said that the federal law preempts State and local regulations concerning the energy use of many natural gas appliances…”
NWHPBA members sent in comments throughout this process and NWHPBA testified in the final council action. We will continue to participate in legal and legislative actions to fight these rules.
