Congress is currently deliberating legislation that would require states to update building codes in order to meet certain guidelines. In particular, Congress is considering mandating that states' building codes meet the benchmark of 30 percent energy efficiency over the American Society for Air Conditioning and Refrigerating Engineers (ASHRAE) 90.1 (2004) by the year 2010 and meet the benchmark of 50 percent energy efficiency improvement by 2020. ASHRAE 90.1 (2004) sets the baseline in energy efficiency and has been adopted by most states as the standard for commercial buildings.
While the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee are working on energy efficiency legislation, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), the leading trade association for developers, owners, investors and other professionals involved in commercial, industrial and mixed-use real estate, has released a study as to the costs of achieving these targets for energy efficiency. The study concluded that it will take 10 years to recoup the costs of major energy efficiency improvements from utility paybacks in order to reach the 30 percent efficiency on-site energy production or holistic-integrated design approach would be necessary. The study found that developers and owners could not improve their energy efficiency by 50 percent over ASHRAE 90.1 with the currently available technology regardless of the payback. NAIOP currently opposes the proposed federal legislation mandating revisions to the state building codes due to the financial and technical barriers to meeting the proposed efficiency targets.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
