Page 56 - Green Builder November Issue Codes Update
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UNSURE FATE When You Trade a
301 made it through the first round of code hearings, but nothing High-Performance
is inked yet. “[301] had a lot of support on the floor,” says Erik Envelope for Solar…
Makela of Cadmus, who consults for RESNET. “In the hearings, the
discussion of renewables came up before the 301 discussion, and ¦¦ The homeowner gets a poorly performing, less comfortable,
[taking renewables out of the code] got overturned. So ultimately drafty home.
when 301 came up, there was opposition from the groups who were
against the renewable trade-off. We know there will be people at the ¦¦ The homeowner doesn’t see the cost of solar as part of the
hearings who will try to overturn the committee’s decision on it, but true monthly cost of owning the home, because solar is often
from the RESNET perspective, 301 is a vetted standard. ICC even provided under a lease from a third party. This shifts the cost
put their name on it.” away from the home price and mortgage, which is good for
builders, but it doesn’t actually reduce costs for home buyers who
It appears that, as Baden said, barring either side winning outright, may later opt out of the program and be left with a significantly
the middle ground may lie in creating limits on how much on-site under-performing house.
power production can be credited for the ERI option—though even
that would be considered a loss by energy efficiency advocates. ¦¦ The amount of energy being used by the home is not reduced
by on-site renewable generation. The home continues to receive
“This is an issue where the old adage, ‘let’s not put the cart its electricity from the local utility, and while it may deliver “green”
before the horse,’ applies,” Rich says. “While net-zero-energy homes energy back to the local utility, it does not actually offset the
necessarily require the use of renewables, it is the building energy energy use of the home where the system is affixed.
code that ensures energy efficiency has been optimized to make
that home net-zero-energy ready. It is our hope that the 2018 ICC ¦¦ The next homeowner in the door after a solar-topped home is
residential code update process will put the focus back on the ‘horse’ sold may not retain the solar lease or equipment, and will then
of energy cost savings for the homeowner—that means focusing on be saddled with high utility bills.
energy efficiency.” GB
www.greenbuildermedia.com
Cati O’Keefe is the editorial director of Green Builder Media
and the editor of CodeWatcher magazine.
Contact her at cati.okeefe@greenbuildermedia.com
54 GREEN BUILDER November/December 2016
