The best way to make homes and buildings energy efficient is to build them that way to begin with. That means making our building code stronger. NJPIRG supports A1629/S702 which would do just that.

The bill allows New Jersey to set a higher energy-savings standard for all new residential and commercial buildings than those currently set by the federal government. For instance, under the new law, New Jersey could adopt codes that require Energy Star equivalency. A building code that incorporated Energy Star guidelines would produce buildings that are 20 percent more efficient than buildings that meet the current federal standard.

The legislation does put a few limitations on new energy codes. First, the energy code must have a payback period of less than seven years based on energy price projections provided by the Board of Public Utilities. Second, the state can only adopt new energy codes every three years. This will ensure that the new energy codes are not changed too frequently.

Codes For New Construction: The Reason We Need Legislation
Current federal codes do not represent the most efficient, cost-effective energy codes available. Enhanced energy codes for residential buildings would be 20 percent more efficient than federal codes. Similarly, Advanced Building Benchmark Standards for commercial buildings would achieve an additional 15 percent increase in efficiency over federal codes.

Since homes and buildings are responsible for about 65 percent of electricity used in New Jersey, the state’s inability to make them as efficient as possible has a significant impact on New Jersey’s energy security. This bill will allow New Jersey to regularly update building codes to the most energy-efficient, cost-effective standards, significantly reducing the state’s energy needs.

• Lower energy use: Making new commercial and residential buildings more efficient will cut projected electricity demand by 5.5 percent in 2020 and natural gas demand by 4.6 percent in 2020.

• Cheaper Energy: Using Energy Star equivalent energy codes for homes and Advanced Building Benchmark Standards for commercial buildings would save consumers and businesses $6.6 billion on electricity and $3.2 billion on natural gas by 2020 compared to current code.

• Cost-effective codes: While enhanced codes increase construction cost, energy savings quickly payback that initial cost. For instance, Advanced Buildings Benchmark Standards cost an additional $1 per square foot; however, they save an average of $0.40 a year, resulting in a 2.5 year pay back period, and savings continue for many years afterwards.

Now that this bill has cleared the Assembly, the final hurdle is the Senate.  Contact your Senator and ask them to Co-Sponsor S2154, so that these smart energy codes can become law.