Evers administration calls for building code changes to meet climate change goals

A report released Tuesday suggests Wisconsin should revise its building codes to include higher energy-efficiency standards and make various other changes meant to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In a 2019 executive order, Gov. Tony Evers set up an office of sustainability and clean energy and directed it to produce a clean-energy plan, a first-of-its-kind look at how the state can work toward the development of more clean energy. The 170-page report finds Wisconsin should prepare for the deployment of electric vehicles, revise its emissions goals, encourage energy efficiency and change its building codes to prepare for climate changes, among other things.

The report adopts some recommendations from a task force Evers had assembled to look at the risks posed by climate change and to encourage the state to adopt commercial and residential building codes containing stricter energy-efficiency standards.  Such changes are among various policy options meant to help the state achieve its goal of securing all of its power from carbon-neutral sources by 2050. These goals were to be met in part by embracing the International Code Council’s latest regulations.

Wisconsin could reduce its numbers by adopting rules that call for fossil fuels to be replaced with low- and zero-carbon power sources and by pursuing the use of “alternative” fuels such as renewable natural gas and hydrogen.

Such a transition would require the state to change how it regulates the building industry — a recommendation that drew skepticism from some in the construction industry.

John Schulze, legal and government affairs director for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, said the Evers administration shouldn’t be adding new rules at a time when contractors are struggling with rising inflation and supply disruptions.

“The last thing any government should be doing now is making the cost of constructing schools, hospitals, and factories even more expensive with requirements that have nothing to do with safety,” Schulze said.

“Giving up that type of control is not in the interest of builders and consumers in Wisconsin,” Boycks said.

Another recommendation calls on the state to adopt the latest version of the International Code Council’s building standards, which contain stricter energy-efficiency rules than those now found in Wisconsin. The state is now operating under the 2015 energy-conservation rules for commercial buildings and the 2009 rules for residential structures.

Boycks said the state could see more progress in energy efficiency by seeking improvements in existing buildings rather than simply setting higher standards for new construction.

The report contains various other recommendations calling on the state to find ways to use energy more efficiently. They recommend preparing the state’s transportation system for more electric vehicles and revising its building codes to require new buildings be equipped for electric vehicles and solar panels, among other things.

Other recommendations include:

• Studying how the state can improve energy efficiency in the construction supply chain by considering the energy needed to extract, process or transport building materials to a project site,
• Supporting the use of Air-Source Heat Pumps, which are highly efficient systems for heating and cooling homes and run on natural gas, propane, fuel oil, or electric resistance heat,
• Encouraging businesses to join programs that will audit their energy use,
• Explore the establishment of a net-zero carbon emission standard for new buildings, and a timeline for carrying out such a rule
• Adopting initiatives to develop a clean-energy workforce in Wisconsin