Local homebuilders apprehensive about proposed new energy mandates
| Monday, Oct 24 2011 06:23 PM
Last Updated Monday, Oct 24 2011 06:26 PM
Local builders are decrying proposals that would strengthen minimum energy efficiency standards for new construction, saying they could hinder new home building just as the struggling industry is clawing its way to a comeback.
At issue are proposed changes to the California Energy Code. Energy efficiency standards for residential and nonresidential buildings were established in 1978 in response to a legislative mandate to reduce California's energy consumption. The standards are updated periodically to reflect new technologies and building methods.
The California Energy Commission has proposed a whole host of changes intended to make buildings use less energy, including mandates for tighter windows and better insulation.
Once adopted by the commission, the standards would be published in July 2013 and take effect in January 2014 to give builders time to adapt.
But builders in Kern County are organizing to fight the new rules, which would have a greater impact here than in much of the state.
That's because mandates vary for different zones in California. In the Central Valley, which has colder winters and hotter summers, the rules are more strict.
Kern County builders estimate the mandates would add at least $7,000 to the cost of buying a new home in the valley, shrinking an already razor thin profit margin for those who build them.
"It would be devastating in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression to make it even harder for us to compete with existing homes," said Matt Towery, owner of Towery Homes. "Of course we should be trying to build efficient homes, but it's not like this is the first time they've done this to us.
"The existing standards are already extremely efficient, so when you make it even more severe, you're adding a lot of expense for very little payback."
The commission disputes the cost estimate of the builders, saying the changes would add no more than $3,600 to the price of homes here. Moreover, said spokesman Adam Gottlieb, once the standards are incorporated into mainstream building practice, the costs may be reduced further; and the changes will save homeowners $9,000 in energy costs over a 30-year period.
"These standards were created in concert with the California Building Industry Association," Gottlieb said. "The standards are meant to keep Californians living in comfortable and efficient homes, which really is important to everybody."
But builders say they're already reeling from previous mandates, such as the residential sprinkler system mandate that took effect Jan. 1.
"We're already doing low-energy homes to begin with, so all it is a job killer," said Jim Ward of Bakersfield-based Northwest Builders LLC. "I'm sure someone at some point thought they were creating jobs installing new sprinkler systems, but all it's done is reduce the number of new homes being built and the construction jobs that go with that."
Statewide, permits were pulled for 3,291 housing units last month, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. That's up 10 percent from the same month a year ago but down 35 percent from August.
Permits for just single-family homes totaled 1,463, down 16 percent from September 2010 and down 25 percent from the previous month.
Builders statewide pulled 1,828 permits for multifamily units, up 45 percent from a year ago but down 41 percent from August.
The city of Bakersfield issued 32 building permits for new single-family homes in September, up from 26 the same month last year.
