Final Chance to be Heard on Potentially Costly DOER Stretch Codes

Having made what it said are "targeted changes" based on the extensive public comment on its initial straw proposal in February, the Department of Energy Resources late last month filed draft language for the state building code changes that it hopes will encourage builders to shift away from fossil fuel heating (remember Call Joe-4-Oil from Venezuela?) in favor of electrification.

The Baker administration expects that its stretch energy code and specialized municipal opt-in code will save an estimated 500,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 with "no-to-minimal costs" to new construction, and $21 billion in construction and operating lifecycle costs. DOER said the draft regulations it filed with the secretary of state's office Friday are generally "very consistent" with the straw proposal the department released in February.

Despite the likely cost burdens on business, renters, and homeowners the administration says updating the existing stretch code and creating a new net-zero specialized stretch code for cities and towns to adopt is one of the more technical but meaningful steps Massachusetts is planning to take to be net-zero by the middle of the century. Residential and commercial building energy consumption was responsible for about 27 percent of the state's greenhouse gas emissions in 2017.

And there is no choice. The new net-zero code is required by last year's climate roadmap law to be in place by the end of 2022 and was one of the more controversial aspects of the law, which Gov. Charlie Baker initially vetoed as developers warned that a net-zero stretch code would make the construction of new homes cost-prohibitive.

On the other hand, key senators have been frustrated that the Baker administration's stretch code does not authorize cities and towns to mandate that builders use all-electric heating, and the Senate's wide-ranging climate bill calls for the creation of a "demonstration project" in which 10 municipalities could limit the use of fossil fuels in new construction. That bill is currently in conference committee negotiations with the House, which focused more on offshore wind policy in its bill.

Among the changes made to the February straw proposal, DOER said, was a strengthening of the specialized stretch code's net-zero requirement for large residential homes, added clarity on the definition of net-zero building and a definition for zero-energy building as an optional code pathway, and clarity on effective dates. DOER said it received more than 1,200 written responses when it put the straw proposal out for public comment.

But to date, most of the news coverage and comment has been uncritical and, indeed, favorable to the proposed measures. But, Michael Ferrante from MA Energy Marketers Association, for one, sees the direction DOER is pursuing as potentially dangerous. For example. he said earlier in the year, Eversource warned that the region faced a risk of rolling blackouts. “The grid itself is already overloaded and fragile, so what happens when we convert a million homes to electric heat pumps and also electrify cars and buses,” he asked?

Furthermore, he noted, the existing grid was designed around a small number of large power plants. The much more diverse future, with many more power sources in many more locations will tax both management technologies and overall capacity.

“We support the goal but we think clean fuels, including bio-based, can be part of a smoother and safer transition,” he said.

For those interested in getting a deeper understanding of the proposals or offering comment, DOER said that it will provide an overview of the newest draft code language; a public comment period on the latest draft will be open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 12. Comments can be emailed to stretchcode@mass.gov with the words "BUILDING CODE COMMENTS" in the subject line or mail to Ian Finlayson, Department of Energy Resources, 100 Cambridge St., Suite 1020, Boston, MA 02114.

The new code language will also be subject to three public hearings -- July 22 at the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife field headquarters in Westborough, Aug. 2 at Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy and Aug. 8 via a virtual meeting platform.

Since 2010, municipalities have had two options when it comes to picking a building code: they could adopt the state's base energy code or, as 299 of the state's 351 cities and towns have done, choose to use the stretch energy code first created in the Green Communities Act of 2008 as a requirement to become a Green Community. The code is meant specifically to "minimize, to the extent feasible, the lifecycle cost of the facility by utilizing energy efficiency, water conservation and other renewable or alternative energy technologies."

Now, cities and towns will have a third option, one that DOER has referred to as a "climate-focused" specialized stretch code, which the 2021 climate roadmap law requires. DOER is also proposing updates to the base code that 52 municipalities rely on and to the more common stretch code. Unless a city or town decides to adopt the new specialized stretch code, it will continue to use whichever code it has adopted along with the latest updates.