There are always things going on under the radar whose effects sneak up on us when it’s too late to do much about them, or at least when it’s too late to prevent the harm they cause. This one is likely among those that may cause quite a bit of harm before it can be unwound:
The private consortium that oversees the model building codes for much of the United States and parts of the Caribbean and Latin America on Thursday stripped local governments of their right to vote on future energy-efficiency codes.
The decision came more than a year after the construction and gas industry groups that wield heavy influence at the International Code Council objected to aggressive new energy codes for which government officials voted.
The change, though technical and wonky, marks what environmental advocates say is one of the most consequential roadblocks to decarbonizing the U.S. economy. It also illustrates the limits of both the new Biden administration’s powers and the causes for which activists can mobilize public support. Local governments, members of Congress, environmentalists and architects overwhelmingly opposed the proposal.
Under the new system, the building codes that govern energy systems and insulation ? once subject to a vote by the city and state governments tasked with implementing them ? will instead fall under a separate “standards” process that, despite soliciting input from local officials, will give industry more control over the outcome.
I had a number of cases involving building codes. It’s a technical subject, and there’s no doubt that there are good reasons to have uniformity in our codes. I was dimly aware of the existence of the Code Council, or an entity like it, but never really had to get into the weeds of how it was organized or the process by which it made it’s recommendations.
As the linked article demonstrates, the Council has essentially been taken over by the industries that building codes regulate or affect, i.e., the construction and energy industries. Naturally, the Council is now spinning the changes it made as a net gain for energy efficient construction, but that position is belied by the identities of the groups that support and oppose the changes. Basically, it’s environmentalists and governmental planners on one side, and energy interests and home builder interests on the other.
Ultimately, the Commission can make recommendations only. It’s up to localities to actually adopt its recommendations, which most have done simply because they lack the resources and expertise to draft them themselves and because there’s merit in having uniform standards. It looks like there’s a movement to create an alternative, which would probably be the best solution. It is, after all, about time that we mandate energy conserving measures in new construction, such as solar panels, etc. The Council’s action demonstrates once again the almost inevitable result of privatizing governmental functions.
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