Remember the local and state building regulations that you have worked under if you are a builder. As New Yorkers would say, Forgetaboutit…

The new legislation that passed through the House last night, unread by any of the Congress people, had inserted into the bill a new NATIONAL BUILDING CODE. You heard me right, there is language that would have a national building code override your local and state codes.

So what standards are needed for a home in Kittery, Maine will also be required of Miami, Florida or Honolulu, Hawaii.

The bill would give the federal government power over local building codes. It requires that by 2012 codes must require that new buildings be 30 percent more efficient than they would have been under current regulations. By 2016, that figure rises to 50 percent, with increases scheduled for years after that. With those targets in mind, the bill expects organizations that develop model codes for states and localities to fill in the details, creating a national code. If they don’t, the bill commands the Energy Department to draft a national code itself.
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States, meanwhile, would have to adopt the national code or one that achieves the same efficiency targets. Those that refuse will see their codes overwritten automatically, and they will be docked federal funds and carbon “allowances” — valuable securities created elsewhere in the bill that give the holder the right to pollute and can be sold. The Energy Department also could enforce its code itself. Among other things, the policy would demonstrate the new leverage of allocation of allowances as a sort of carbon currency — leverage this bill would be giving to Congress to direct state behavior.

washingtonpost.com.


More from Reuters Shari Shapiro and Chris Cheatham :
http://www.reuters.com/article/gwmBuildings/idUS216473327920090626

Well that's one way to raise housing costs and real estate prices...

Oh, and it doesn't just cover new construction. Look for the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program to facilitate building retrofit programs for energy efficiency ... In other words, bring your existing home up to green standards before you are allowed to sell...