Communities can take action to make their houses more energy efficient while waiting for rules to be updated.
By Evelyn Long, editor-in-chief of Renovated
Worldwide, building codes are holding back a structure’s sustainable progress. They allow excessive energy waste and high utility bills for homeowners. Communities are fighting for and against code revisions to enforce better insulation, electrification, and material use. Why is this happening, and what are the best options for rewriting standards?
Why Are There Poor Building Standards?
Codes have been the subject of contentious legislative debates for decades. Many fear the changes could negatively affect customers, such as through unintentional price increases.
After its recent bout of wildfires, California attempted to develop new commercial and residential expectations for fire safety. The progress turned into a back-and-forth argument with the Building Code Council — which wanted authority over the decisions — and the state’s Legislature. The latter pushed back implementation, citing concerns with inaccurate maps and costs. The fight sparked essential discourse on what bodies should be able to change rules and if politics interfere with critical updates.
In 2023, North Carolina outright banned updates to building codes until 2031. Environmentalists suggest it could delay decarbonization and burden households with higher bills. Meanwhile, countless opposing arguments suggest cost savings, making information confusing for the general public.
The fight was another instance of the state’s Building Code Council losing power. The decision encourages continued reliance on fossil fuels and political influence over structural technological advancements.
The circumstances demonstrate how the private interests of fossil fuel companies can influence infrastructure resilience. Building standard decisions are also a commitment to a climate change response. The subjects are so interconnected that tension and poor building standards persist in urbanized societies.
What Poor Building Standards Are There?
Critical infrastructure in the U.S. has almost reached its expiration date, leading to countless outages and service disruptions. Older households and businesses are pervasive and were built with antiquated codes as a framework. The industry’s knowledge only increases with time, making architecture prone to safety and efficiency oversights. Locations with rigid standards could destroy new infrastructure efforts as climate change worsens.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency validates these trends. Its Building Code Adoption Tracking tool evaluates states by comparing the modernity of their standards against resistance to natural hazards. The majority have low to moderate protection because they are unwilling to update their compliance. These criteria should be the first to change if states want to withstand disasters and promote energy efficiency.
Inadequate Insulation
Infrastructure needs robust insulation in walls, roofs, floors, garages, crawlspaces and other vulnerable areas. It could be one of the most significant causes of hot and cool air escaping, raising monthly prices as temperatures fluctuate.
Inefficient Windows
Older homes used to think single-paned windows were sufficient. Adding more panes boosts effectiveness, but performance standards must be even higher. The U-value — which determines heat loss potential — must be as low as possible for colder climates. Regulations should also enforce lower solar heat gain coefficients to lower heat gain in warmer geographies.
Permeable Envelopes
Most building envelopes have cracks, gaps and minimal sealing, giving electricity more places to move. They are 50% of a building’s power consumption, and experts project cooling demands will rise by 72% by 2100. This number will only worsen without greater oversight on features like weatherstripping, door seals and energy audits.
Resistance to Smart Homes Integrations
Currently, codes do not require smart home technology. Yet, they could be one of the most potent assets for analyzing energy usage and waste, promoting a continually improving mindset.
The data is invaluable for assessing the comprehensiveness of building codes. In the future, codes could embed homes with programmable, energy-efficient lighting, HVAC systems and thermostats. This would boost the public’s energy literacy while lowering bills as they see their impact in real time.
Neglecting Embodied Energy
Operational efficiency is the foundation for almost all building codes. It is crucial, but it ignores the embodied energy’s impact. The building materials, construction process and manufacturing needs are some of the most power-hungry aspects of a structure’s history.
Codes must have guidance for builders, engineers and architects to raise awareness of how much this influences life cycle assessments. For example, sourcing natural construction components from ethically managed forests instead of encouraging invasive mining in ecologically weak areas is a necessary first step in cutting energy costs and expenditures.
Old Lighting Standards
Most codes prioritize LED lights over traditional incandescents and other bulb variants because of their superior shelf life and efficiency. They function around 25 times longer and require 75% less energy.
They also have lower thermal runaway, emitting less heat that goes to waste. Some argue that lighting standards are not aggressive enough, as many U.S. buildings still have dangerous and inefficient bulbs. Only 50% of worldwide residential lighting purchases were LEDs, showing a persistent disparity.
Low Requirements for HVAC and Ventilation
Rules like ASHRAE’s Standard 62.1-2010 are critical for positioning structures for better airflow. They are vital for amplifying HVAC’s efficacy, which could be one of the most antiquated parts of a building. Technologies are advancing, and structures are not required to use the most updated resources. Older machines use more power to heat and cool homes, which burdens customers with bill increases and lower internal comfort.
Minimal Focus on Thermal Bridging
Many energy codes focus on stopping power from escaping, but how much it travels is equally important. Homes could have conductive materials, letting heat through the insulation and air pockets. It is a more subtle form of inefficiency, but experts have numerous noninvasive imaging tools to detect thermal bridging issues. However, codes do not give the subject enough attention.
How Do Poor Building Standards Cost Homeowners?
Current standards are ineffective because they could be more comprehensive or fail to include helpful suggestions, like smart tech. The neglect costs homeowners money and electricity in three primary ways:
- Energy escape: Insulation, doors, and conductive materials encourage heat to escape quickly in winter and enter in summer. Depending on how much temperatures change in a community over time, the cost increases could be exponential.
- Outdated technology: HVACs and appliances are highly consumptive, and many codes do not require efficient installations from recommended sources like Energy Star. Additionally, minimal maintenance requirements worsen matters because they reduce system effectiveness and increase repair costs for households.
- Air leakage: Unconditioned air creeps into buildings, disrupting homeowners’ control over internal conditions. While this costs residents on their utility bills, it could also cost them their health, as air pollutants sneak through envelope cracks.
Research shows that instituting updated building codes could save homes up to $950 annually with a 37% energy efficiency improvement. They could save even more with better power use awareness and innovations.
How Can Homeowners Compensate for Poor Building Codes?
While homeowners can advocate for more comprehensive standards, most regulatory action is out of a single family’s control. Communities can take action to make their houses more energy-efficient while waiting for rules to be updated. Doing so will save budgets, energy and the environment simultaneously, as many of these activities support sustainable living.
Get an Energy Audit
Some households may need guidance on how to upgrade their homes. Scheduling an audit will discover the greatest inefficiencies while allowing them to ask an expert questions. Insurance may cover this expense, but governmental programs are also available to fund eco-friendly upgrades.
Replace Outdated Materials
Old insulation could be setting a house back several decades. Many installers default to spray foam insulation or fiberglass, but greener options are available, including nontoxic recycled denim, sheep’s wool or renewable cellulose.
Switching out window film insulation is another easy way to enhance the envelope. To minimize losses, apply emissivity coatings to the glass. Finally, any non-LED lights need immediate attention.
Install a Smart Thermostat
Homeowners can get smart lights, air filters and more, but the most immediately impactful purchase would be the thermostat. It can automate HVAC systems based on occupancy and outdoor conditions, keeping the home perfect without manual inputs.
It prevents equipment from expending too much power if someone forgets to change the settings. The information is helpful if homes want to install renewable electricity eventually because it gives a holistic view of the building’s needs.
Seal Everything
Foundational cracks, gaps under doors and splitting caulking all contribute to energy losses. Mending these protects many of the home’s essential mechanisms, especially those vulnerable to temperature, like wiring and pipes.
Share Knowledge With Neighbors
One house can become more efficient, but the neighborhood is still impacting the grid as a whole. Households must share tips and tricks with others to alleviate load burdens and decarbonize cities.
As more people make improvements, grids can modernize more easily to transmit resources without disruptions. It also empowers citizens to have greater control over their bills and energy use.
The Sustainable Future Needs Building Codes
Communities and professionals alike must advocate for stronger standards because they are the foundation for energy-efficient homes. Many modern, effective infrastructure characteristics enable cost savings while bettering the planet. They will also encourage innovation through thoughtful digital transformation and climate resilience. Spreading awareness of how critical these issues are is the first step in getting the codes on paper with legislators.