Building Codes Assistance Project

On November 20, during the U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild International Conference at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick set two major goals for energy efficiency and renewable energy. The first aims to make all new malls and "big box" retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target energy efficient and powered in part by solar energy by 2010, and the second goal is for the state to offer a super-efficient building code as a local option for municipalities.

Governor Patrick directed Ian Bowles, the state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, to initiate a dialogue with the development community to put together the technical assistance, financing support, and regulatory standards to facilitate the universal adoption of solar power and super-efficient buildings for large retail stores and malls, typically greater than 50,000 square feet in size.

The state will encourage these developers to take greater advantage of the incentives already in place for solar power, including Commonwealth Solar (the state's rebate program), which provides as much as 40 percent of the cost of a solar energy installation, and federal investment tax credits for solar installations, which were recently extended for another eight years.

In addition, Governor Patrick has asked staff at the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Public Safety to develop a super-efficient energy code for consideration by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) as a local option for municipalities that want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from development in their communities.

Under the Green Communities Act (introduced as S. 2768, now Chapter 169 of the Acts of 2008), the comprehensive energy reform bill signed by the Governor in July, Massachusetts is required to incorporate the latest version of the International Energy Conservation Code in its building code within one year of its adoption. The International Codes Council approved its 2009 IECC standards in September, and the BBRS is expected to update the Massachusetts energy code to include these standards sometime next year.

The new law also allows the BBRS to adopt standards even more stringent than the IECC, and Governor Patrick proposed the Board do so by creating a second, super-efficient code that local officials could adopt as a local option. This "stretch" code, which will be presented to the BBRS for adoption in the coming months, will be based on established national voluntary above-code efficiency standards such as the Energy Star for Homes program and the New Buildings Institute's "Core Performance" program for commercial properties. As an optional addendum to the state building code, the stretch code would be voted on by the BBRS following a public hearing. Once approved by the BBRS, any municipality choosing to adopt the stretch code would have to do so by a vote of town meeting or city council.

For more information, view the official press release from the Governor's office.

For Massachusetts code status information, please consult the BCAP Massachusetts Code Status page.