Rush to Build New Homes to 2021 IECC Exacerbates Affordability Crisis, NAHB Tells Congress
The recent federal push to require certain new homes to meet the stringent energy efficiency requirements of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE 90.1-2019 will price many would-be home buyers and renters out of the market and give them no choice but to stay in older, less efficient homes, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress today.
Testifying on behalf of NAHB before a House energy subcommittee, Shawn Woods, a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo., said the negative consequences of implementing a restrictive, costly national energy code, with no consideration for local conditions, outweigh the minimal improvements to energy efficiency and is a misguided effort.
“Without adequate review or consideration of how it will affect home buyers or renters, HUD and USDA have rammed though a mandate that will require new single-family construction financed through both agencies to be built to the 2021 IECC,” said Woods. “This mandate will do little to curb overall energy use but will exacerbate the housing affordability crisis and hurt the nation’s most vulnerable house hunters.”
Studies have shown that building to the 2021 IECC can add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home and that it would require up to 90 years for a home buyer to realize a payback on the added upfront cost. That’s not a reasonable trade-off for a new home buyer.