DeepSummary
The episode discusses how building codes can be a powerful tool for decarbonizing buildings and fighting climate change. Building codes regulate various aspects of construction, such as energy efficiency, heating systems, and electrical infrastructure. By mandating measures like electric heating, heat pumps, and EV charging stations, building codes can significantly reduce emissions from buildings.
However, implementing green building codes faces challenges. The real estate and construction industries often resist stricter codes due to higher costs. There are also equity concerns about passing retrofit costs to low-income tenants. Nevertheless, some cities like New York have adopted ambitious building codes to reduce emissions from existing buildings.
The episode explores the co-benefits of green building codes, such as improved air quality, lower utility bills, and increased resilience to climate change impacts like flooding and heat waves. It also discusses the role of federal, state, and local governments in setting building codes and the recent federal initiative to encourage adoption of updated codes.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Building codes regulate various aspects of construction like insulation, heating systems, and electrical infrastructure, making them a potential tool for decarbonizing buildings.
- Requiring electric heating, heat pumps, and EV charging in building codes could significantly reduce emissions from buildings.
- The real estate and construction industries often resist stricter building codes due to higher upfront costs.
- Implementing ambitious building emissions laws faces pushback from industry groups through lobbying and lawsuits.
- Stricter codes raise equity concerns about passing retrofit costs to low-income renters without government assistance.
- Green building codes offer co-benefits like improved air quality, lower utility bills, and increased resilience to climate impacts.
- Cities like New York have led in adopting building emissions laws, while progress at the federal level has been slow.
- The Biden administration launched an initiative to encourage states and cities to adopt updated model building codes.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If you had a magic wand and you could change the building codes across the country to decarbonize buildings, to get us to net zero buildings as quickly as possible, what are the things you would change? And I'm going to say, let's focus on your top three.“ by Speaker D
- “This law is very controversial. Its most expensive elements don't go into effect until 2030. I think it's widely expected that the real estate industry may try very hard to lobby the state legislature to overturn the law. Meanwhile, a lawsuit has just been filed by a bunch of building owners and others to try to challenge the law.“ by Michael Gerard
- “The chief thing is that it costs a lot of money to comply with stronger building codes. And in the initial element, if we're talking about new buildings, that is the money that's being spent by the people who are building the buildings, and they may or may not be able to readily pass those costs along to the people who buy the buildings.“ by Michael Gerard
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Episode Information
The Big Switch
Dr. Melissa Lott
7/27/22
Building codes: they might sound boring, but they’re actually the front lines in a nationwide battle to decarbonize our buildings. And they do a lot more than keeping your home from falling down over your head. They regulate everything from energy efficiency, to the kind of fuel your stove runs on, to whether your building has an electric vehicle charging port – all super important facets of building decarbonization. And if designed correctly, building codes can also help address issues like public health, pollution, and even adaptation to the effects of climate change.
In this episode, Melissa speaks with Michael Gerrard, an expert on environment and climate law and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University about how to unlock this secret weapon – and what’s getting in the way of greener building codes.
The Big Switch is produced by Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy in partnership with Post Script Media. This episode was produced by Alexandria Herr and Daniel Woldorff. Theme music and mixing by Sean Marquand. Story editing by Anne Bailey. A special thanks to Natalie Volk, Kirsten Smith and Kyu Lee. Our executive editor is Stephen Lacey.