In fight against climate change, NC board seeks to change building construction code

Building codes set out the technical requirements for every structure built in North Carolina, focusing on details like how much insulation fills the walls or how effective ventilation must be.

On Tuesday, a 17-person board heard from the public about a slate of changes to those codes. The N.C. Building Code Council reviews the codes every six years, per North Carolina law.

Changes to the energy code have proven controversial. Members of the council are advocating for sweeping changes that, they argue, will better position homes and offices in North Carolina to stand up to the changing climate of a warmer world and result in significant savings for residents. The N.C. Home Builders Association argues that those same changes would lead to cost hikes averaging about $20,000 for a 2,434-square-foot home and that it would take decades for the changes to pay off for buyers.

Updates are largely in line with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, global standards for energy efficiency developed by the International Code Council, said Kim Wooten, a Durham engineer who chairs the Building Code Council’s energy ad hoc committee. Some parts of the existing building code date back to 2009, she said.

And unless the code is changed before July 1, 2024, the current code will stay in place until 2031.

“I’m not going to be driving a car that has 22-year-old safety measures. I’m not going to have a computer that’s built to a 2009 standard. Why should we force homes to be outdated, outmoded energy hogs when they don’t need to be?” Wooten said.

The changes would result in an 18% increase in energy efficiency for new homes, Wooten said. An analysis conducted for the council showed that cost increases associated with the energy code would be paid off within four years.

Response from home builders

Builders told the council Tuesday that the changes are unwanted, unnecessary and will further exacerbate the state’s housing affordability crisis.

Courtney Smith-Gonzalez, the vice president of city operations for D.R. Horton’s Raleigh South Division, said rising construction costs are already resulting in a struggle to maintain costs. Buyers simply aren’t focused on energy efficiency, she added.

“That is not a priority for buyers when they’re looking for homes. They’re looking for location and pricing and close distance to schools and work,” Smith-Gonzalez said.

Abiding by the new rule would require more trees to be cut down and the use of more petroleum-based foam and insulation, warned Taylor Bennett, an operations manager at Evans Coghill Homes in Charlotte.

“I don’t know if it meets the spirit of conservation when you’re talking about eating up a lot of resources to save $50 to $90 per house per month,” Bennett said.

But Thomas Phoenix, a Greensboro engineer and vice chair of the National Institute of Building Sciences, recommended approval. Phoenix was part of the subcommittee that crafted the recommendations and said representatives from other states have long seen North Carolina as lagging.

“The time is right for the council and the state of North Carolina to adopt (the changes) and move into the 21st century,” Phoenix said.

A Clean Energy Plan released by Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration in 2019 found that North Carolina’s energy code was “falling behind national standards” and advocated for more energy efficiency efforts on the Building Code Council. The plan also called for the council to increase energy efficiency requirements in new buildings.

Role of insulation

Keeping cool air inside in the summer and warm air inside in the winter means burning lower amounts of natural gas to heat a given building, something that could have a significant impact when spread across thousands of buildings.

Changes to insulation are particularly important, Wooten said, because they are difficult if not impossible to change once the building is complete.

“You replace lights, you replace heating and air equipment because it wears out. The insulation in the walls will be there the life of the home. ... When you build a building, it’s going to be there for 100 years or more,” Wooten said.

The N.C. Home Builders Association argues the changes would result in a steep increase in the cost of building, and thus buying, new housing.

Complying with the proposed changes would cost builders an extra $16,999 per home statewide, with consumers paying about $20,400 more for a new home, according to the Home Builders Association. To determine that, the association asked eight of its members what compliance would cost.

Nearly half of the increase would be tied to increased insulation and framing changes, the builders said. Another $3,200 would be linked with more efficient heating and cooling units. And home builders also believe that adding insulation would require them to change the physical frame of a house, moving from two-by-four to two-by-six lumber.

The western part of the state and the Piedmont would see more significant impact than the coastal areas, said Steven Webb, a legislative lobbyist for the Builders Association.

“It’s going to be a wildly costly code change. And the bottom line is we’re currently in a market that, one, we have a housing shortage across the state. There’s numerous reasons for that, but the housing inventory that’s on the market currently is still very expensive,” Webb said.

Wooten argues that the $20,000 number is inaccurate, with the improvements likely costing more like $4,500. It’s possible, she added, to upgrade insulation used in order to keep using two-by-four lumber or to use upgraded vinyl siding that provides better insulation.

Additionally, Wooten said, an analysis prepared for the Building Code Council shows that energy efficiency improvements will create about 60,000 jobs in North Carolina over 30 years while saving consumers about $5 billion in energy costs.

“Change is hard,” Wooten said. “But we want people to be successful all the way around.”

If the Building Code Council approves the changes at its June meeting, home builders have a legislative option to prevent the energy code from going into effect.

Should 10 people write letters to the N.C. Rules Review Commission saying they oppose the code change, it would become subject to a process called “legislative disapproval.” That would mean that within 30 days into the next N.C. General Assembly session, any member of the House or Senate could introduce a bill striking the rule down.

“It only takes 10 letters of objection from across the state, so I’m sure you’d get 10 letters of objection from builders or, frankly, citizens across the state,” Webb said.

The Building Code Council will accept comment on the proposed changes until April 17. Comments can be emailed to Carl Martin at carl.martin@ncdoi.gov or physically sent to Carl Martin, Secretary, NC Building Code Council, NC Department of Insurance, 1202 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1202.

This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.