The board of directors of the nonprofit group that issues model building codes used across the U.S., at the behest of fossil fuel-linked industry groups, took highly unusual, last-minute action to strip this year’s codebook of numerous pro-electrification provisions, Huffpost reports. The International Code Council adopted model building codes for 2024 last fall that included key codes that would make it cheaper for homeowners to install energy efficient heat pumps and induction stoves, charge EVs, or put up solar panels.
The codes were expected to save homeowners tens of thousands of dollars (and untold stress and disruption) from avoided future renovations, in addition to lowering utility bills, for a marginal up front cost increase. However, against the advice of its own experts, and after the challenges brought by gas utilities and furnace manufacturers were denied by the ICC appeals board, the ICC granted those demands and relegated the electrification provisions to an optional appendix, severely undermining their widespread adoption.
This is not the first time electrification and clean energy advocates have criticized what they describe as the fossil fuel industry’s undue influence over the ICC. The ICC move is “Really bad and surprising news,” Mike Waite, of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, told HuffPost. “The ICC Board went against their consensus committees, appeals board and staff.” (HuffPost)