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Notes -
Culture war in building codes?
In most of the United States, the building codes are based on codes issued by the ICC (International Code Council), including the IECC (International Energy Conservation Code). Apparently, the committee in charge of updating the IECC for 2024 attempted to insert a bunch of mandatory provisions that were not directly related to energy conservation. The NAHB (National Association of Homebuilders) summarizes the objectionable provisions as follows:
Electric-vehicle charging infrastructure in both residential and commercial buildings
Solar-readiness provisions in residential buildings
Electric-readiness provisions for electric cooking, clothes drying, and water heating
Penalty for using natural gas for space or water heating in commercial buildings
Electrical energy storage system readiness in commercial buildings
These insertions were appealed to the ICC's board of directors, which (by votes of at least 10 to 7) ordered that they be moved to nonmandatory appendices of the code.
Build it and they will come. If we want electric vehicle - and they are superior to ICE cars in every way but the charging speed and range - which I think will be solved in a decade or so - talking in principle - why current. Removing friction for buyers is good strategy. Putting solar panels on every roof in sunny area is also a good idea. In my corner in europe - we cook and dry and very often heat water with electricity. So once again - a good idea.
Natural gas is incredibly efficient when used for heating building - the real thermal energy we capture from the potential is 90% or so. So this is not a good policy if gas is readily available.
Energy storage for buildings will arrive 12 months after room temperature superconducters and 6 months after nuclear fusion. Whatever solution we come up with for grid storage and balancing will have one thing in common - will be incredibly bulky. Putting it on prime and expensive land makes no sense for a commodity that travels at the speed of light
I don't think it was culture war - probably just well meaning people with tentative grasp of current tech and the normal bureaucratic tendency to expand your authority.
Yeah I said the same thing in 1995.
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