Members Urged to Help Defeat Costly Insulation Code Changes

NAHB members are urged to participate in a grassroots campaign to roll back onerous and costly insulation code requirements that can add as much as $4,000 to the cost of an average new home ― while saving home owners only about $15 a year in energy costs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

NAHB is urging members to tell their code officials why the code provision should be restored to a more sensible level, and to support EC-16, a proposal to roll back the requirements to more reasonable, cost-effective levels.

The hearings to rollback the requirements will be held Sept. 28-Oct. 2 in Detroit.

The Department of Energy Supports the Rollback

The NAHB rollback is supported by the Department of Energy, the sprayed-foam and cellulose insulation manufacturers, APA (The Engineered Wood Association) and the glass-block industry.

What Members Should Do

• NAHB members and representatives of local and state home builders associations should meet with code officials who will be participating in the hearings to educate them and make our case about this issue.
  
  
• NAHB members can visit www.nahb.org/EC16 (available to members only on the NAHB Web site) for resources that will enable them to participate in the current rollback campaign. Materials include detailed background information, a sample letter to send to code officials and state-by-state lists of more than 1,100 of the officials who are likely to be voting on this issue in September.

NAHB already has received extremely positive feedback from code officials, however a two-thirds majority vote is needed in Detroit and member support is essential.

For more information, e-mail John Loyer at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8303. [ return to top ]