Charlestown Sen. Gu puts us on track toward smart building
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Sen.
Victoria Gu praised the Rhode Island Builders Association for helping to
address the statewide housing shortage while reducing greenhouse gas emissions
at their training in East Providence Wednesday.
In Photo: from left, CEO Rhode Island Builders Association
John Marcantonio, Gov. Dan McKee, Sen. Victoria Gu
(D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown)
and Chairman National Association of Home Builders Carl Harris.
According to the National Association of Home Builders, this was the first
industry-based workshop in the country to train residential home builders on
the 2024 International Energy Conservation Codes, which will make new and
remodeled homes significantly more energy-efficient and enable smoother
transitions to solar, heat pumps and EV charging in the future.
“This is a testament to the hard work of the Rhode
Island Builders and their partners to create best practices,” said Speaker
Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick). “Rhode Island is a great example of how
industry, environmental advocates and workforce development can come together
to achieve workable solutions to climate and housing goals.”
Last
year, Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown) sponsored
the legislation (2023-S
0815) that set Rhode Island on track to be among the first states in the
nation to adopt the 2024 IECC codes.
“Modernizing our building standards will pay off for Rhode Islanders for years to come,” said Senator Gu. “Not only will they lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions in our state, they will also save new homeowners and all occupants of new buildings money on utility bills.”
According to a White House fact sheet, by adopting these latest codes, the average new homeowner in Rhode Island will save $814 annually -- or 18.5% on their utility bills. The codes achieve this by setting minimum efficiency standards for a structure’s walls, floors, ceilings, lighting, windows, doors, and air leakage, as well as requiring electric-readiness for the first time in new construction.
Electric readiness refers to a set of building standards that ensures building owners can easily add electric vehicle charging, solar, heat pumps and other technologies later on.
For example, for a new home to be
solar-ready, the builder must reserve space on a south-facing roof for solar,
ensure that the roof can support the weight and leave space in the electrical
panel for solar or any other new technologies the homeowner later want to add.
“I am proud to see the work we did last session already put Rhode Island at the cutting edge of green building standards,” said Senate Majority Leader Ryan W. Pearson (D-Dist. 19, Cumberland, Lincoln).
“By putting
these standards into practice, the Rhode Island Builders are starting us on the
path toward alleviating our housing shortage, lowering homeowners’ utility
bills, lowering climate emissions and future-proofing Rhode Island’s housing
stock against the challenges of tomorrow.”
Residential
heating, commercial heating and natural gas distribution combined contribute
about 30% of Rhode Island’s greenhouse gas emissions, so upgrading building
efficiency and electrification is critical to meeting the mandates of the Act
on Climate.
The
RI Office of Energy Resources (OER) was also in attendance. OER is expected to
receive about $5.5 million in federal funding from the Biden-Harris
Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act to assist states in adopting these
codes.
Members of the National Association of Homeowners came from across the country to provide the training.