Will 2019 be the year of energy codes?

The recognition that buildings are a major contributor to greenhouse emissions is now being recognized in the mainstream press. In a recent article in the New York Times, Justin Gillis argued that one of the biggest climate problems is “poorly constructed buildings.” He stated that the people constructing buildings “have an economic motive to skimp on insulation and windows” and a carbon tax won’t change this behavior because they “are not the people who wind up paying the energy bills.” He mentioned that stricter, rigorously enforced energy codes are the solutions. He also recognized the current issues of mediocre stringency and lax enforcement in many states, which we in the building industry often experience.

Between the heightening in the general awareness of building performance and the increasing recognition of the accelerating impact of climate change, the folks at the NBI are predicting 2019 to be “the year of the energy codes” and cite a number of drivers...to continue reading click here.

(the full blog post, as well as previous posts, are hosted on www.usglassmag.com)