With the House narrowly passing HR 2454 (American Clean Energy and Security Act) consumers and contractors need to be keenly aware of how the proposed regulations will impact all of us. Luckily the bill is heading to the Senate where many (optimistically) predict it will die a slow and painful death- Let us hope so!
I believe the majority of Americans are proponents of ‘green’ building and other eco-friendly initiatives. However when the true impact directly to the wallet of the taxpayer is figured into the equation it gets ugly: All forms of energy will cost us more. Period. What does this have to do with real estate way out here on the Oregon Coast? Tucked inside the bill are vast and sweeping reforms on efficiency standards for both new home construction and existing homes.
The bill as passed by the House mandates a national building code that supersedes all local codes with new energy efficient standards, starting with a 30% increase in energy efficiency and increasing from there. This concerns me in 2 parts, the first because the difference in construction standards required for sound building practice differs between Miami, FL and Gearhart, OR greatly. Construction methods that work great here may not work else where in the country. It’s my understanding the new national code will be a single code imposed on the entire country. The second part that concerns me is the new efficiency standards. Unless they impose retro-active efficiency standards on the owners of existing homes, new homes in general are already much more efficient than a 30 year old home. You aren’t really fixing anything in this regard if you reduce the energy consumption of a new home from $1500 per year to $1050 but don’t address older homes that use in excess of $2000 per year in energy. On the flip side of all this is the cost. Either way somebody must pay the bill. In the case of new home construction, ultimately the buyer will absorb the added costs. If the mandates are imposed on existing homes, home owners already struggling to pay just their mortgage payment each month will be burdened with the additional costs of compliance prior to sale. And lets not forget the required federal inspection… Ever dealt with the DMV? You’ll think those people are the model of efficiency if we’re required to have a federal inspection of existing homes prior to sale.
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