Wash. builders sue to stop new green law

metastudy said on June 9, 2010 at 4:36 PM

The new code is just plain bad. Cost increases were demonstrated, energy savings were not, and cost effectiveness was not. The Washington State Legislature's Joint Administrative Rules Review Comittee, chaired by democrat Rep. Bob Hasegawa also took the very unusual step of reviewing the new energy code, specifically the failure of the SBCC to provide a valid cost benefit analysis of the new Energy code as required by law. The JARRC found the analysis provided by DOC to be flawed and unconvincing, and instructed the legislature to suspend ruling the new code into law until the SBCC provided a REAL cost/benefit impact statement, which the SBCC never did. The code was ruled into law anyway, but the fact remains that the bipartisan (sympathetic to the SBCC) JARRC excoriated the SBCC for their failure to provide a valid economic impact statement,see their ruling on December 2, 2009. Both the judgement and audio/video of the JARRC hearing are available online.

bobknows said on June 3, 2010 at 5:56 PM

How many homeless people do we have in Washington? How many young people are living with parents because they cannot afford a home? How many families are on welfare shelters because their costs exceed the price of housing? Wake up liberals. Every cost you add to housing HURTS the people you always pretend to be supporting. The only way to help everyone is to get the government off our backs and out of our pockets.

sumner31 said on June 3, 2010 at 8:34 AM

$15000 may be what BIAW is going to tack on the price of a new home. BIAW is a political action committee, not a building group so we need to discount anything they say.

suquamish_hawk said on June 2, 2010 at 2:08 PM

I like this in the long run it pay's off and that's the way that we have to start looking at things nowadays's for our children and the affect our decisions have on them.

anonymoususer said on June 2, 2010 at 10:20 AM

So they are forced to build higher energy effiecient homes which reduces the energy usage. Pretty soon, PSE isn't making enough and the rates go up. EVERRYONE pays in the end................... If the home buyers (WHAT home buyers???) will pay for it, the builders would use it. In this economy, the builders are fortunate they are still in business let alone have to worry about purchasing "green" garbage in the hopes that someone will pay more for the home. Of course the typical socialist narcissist idiot wants everyone to be micromanaged and controlled - as long as it doesn't affect THEM. seattle is so full of narcissists that only care about self that I'm about to leave. It's too bad - I was born and raised in seattle and it's only been this way since microsoft became big and all the californians moved in. Of course, I'll take 50 jobs with me when I go.

sugarinmybowl said on June 2, 2010 at 10:10 AM

SHAME ON THE BUILDING INDUSTRY OF WASHINGTON!!! We are in two wars and a diaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Shame on the Building Industry! They could be lowering our carbon footprint and decreasing our thirst for oil by building higher energy effecient homes.

bobknows said on June 2, 2010 at 9:37 AM

When THE PEOPLE want to pay $10,000 for "green" Shinola they will step up and buy it. The government needs to get off our backs and out of our pockets. The state is the enemy of all free people and all who would be free. We are owned and controlled by tyranny. Time to send Governess Haywire and her loony leftist bullies out to pasture.

bazwest said on June 2, 2010 at 8:28 AM

I think it is important to find ways to improve energy efficiency, but the improvements should come mainly in the form of technological break-throughs that lower the cost of 'green' products not by government regulation. Here is the game that politicians and the makers of 'green' products play together. First a company makes a product that appears more 'green' than similar products. They put it on the market at much higher prices than similar products. Some consumers buy it because they think they are helping the environment, but sales are sluggish since consumers are very saavy. They convince politicians to support their 'green' product (politicians aren't scientists). Politicians regulate competition or limit choice in the market place (like in this article); this artificially helps their manufacturer friend and as a bonus politicans can claim they are environmentally conscious. Who are the losers? Competition and we the consuming public. We get stuck with the bill.

wearedoomed said on June 2, 2010 at 6:41 AM

Lower utility bills my A**. My bills are the same after getting Green Furncace, and Hot water tank.

landesign1999 said on June 1, 2010 at 10:38 PM

Yes, the manner in which KING 5 reports this, and most other stories does leave much to be desired. Quit watching their news on TV because tired of their games: bait and switch, mostly, or promising a story would be next, and it wasn't. Too much banal prattle and embarassingly stupid remarks. It is just a TV show. Has little or nothing to do with news. Certainly has nothing to do with conveying important information. A joke. After watching McNeil News Hour, and other first rate news programs over the years, KING 5 - as well as KOMO 4 and KIRO 7 are just silly parodies of news programs. They have to know this. What must they think of their viewers to continue putting up such shams each evening. They must think we are stupid and don't know any better. How insulting. Don't waste your time watching local evening news - unless you come home tired and beat and just need to do the zombie thing for awhile in front of the tube....

scott_bellevue said on June 1, 2010 at 10:15 PM

I'm all for green homes. It's an important issue. And I think people should be encouraged to use more energy efficient things. I'm not so sure, however, that mandating them through new building codes is such a great idea. The state of Washington and Seattle in particular don't have great track records on this kind of thing (I still remember building codes that prevented air leaks in houses were so stringent that later houses had to have vents put in to let them breath). So I'm skeptical of the regulation. Of course, none of us can really say anything intelligent about this because King 5 really just regurgitated the basics of a story with no real details. Like, how about a link to those new codes so we can all see them? That would make for more interesting and thought provoking investigative news.

angelainbothell said on June 1, 2010 at 10:10 PM

Solar panels? If we totally ignore the fact that we live in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST where, frankly, the lack of sun and the generous growth of algae on anything that holds still long enough, means that solar panels aren't very efficient here. There are places where many or most houses could theoretically have solar panels. This isn't one of them.

landesign1999 said on June 1, 2010 at 7:38 PM

bobknows: please be quiet unless you have something constructive (no pun intended) to say. So, just let contractors continue to slap up new homes same as before, never improving anything about methods, materials or techniques? If they did the right thing to begin with the government wouldn't feel compelled to request that they take a more enlightened approach to building homes. Builders can certainly do better. Apparently they must be "asked" to do better.

coffeekate said on June 1, 2010 at 7:22 PM

Pay some now or pay way more later. The cost of creating more power generating infrastructure is far more expensive per watt and BTU than implementing conservation. The construction industry makes far more money if they build less efficient homes now, forcing the building of very expensive power generating infrastructure not many years from now.

jackwong said on June 1, 2010 at 7:16 PM

These builders are bunch of idiots. They can just charge it onto the customer. But the customer will recover it all in lower utility bills. I betcha these builders' lawsuits are funded by Republican-scum who are just trying to make a buck and destroying the planet in the process. I say this law doesn't go far enough. I think they should move towards everyone installing solar panels and hydronic heating into their houses too.

bobknows said on June 1, 2010 at 6:25 PM

Governess Haywire and her loony lefties should get off our backs and out of our pockets. A free people are not owned and controlled by government tyranny. ... A long time ago in a land far, far away, there once were free men.