We are thrilled to have Shari Shapiro guest blogging for us this week! Shari is a government relations professional with Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies. She represents a coalition of groups advocating for up-to-date building codes for Pennsylvania. She can be reached at sashapiro@cozen.com.
When I tell you that I am going to spend the next five hundred words explaining why the Delaware Valley Green Building Council (DVGBC), PennFuture and the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance all included reforming Pennsylvania’s building code process as a central issue in the gubernatorial race, cleaning the crumbs out of your keyboard will probably take on a sudden urgency. But for the benefit of Pennsylvania’s economy and environment, hear me out.
Issued last week, the National Climate Assessment described the dramatic effects of climate change in the United States. The increase in severity and frequency of storms and flooding reflected in the report comes as no surprise to Pennsylvanians. Not including the most recent terrible winter storms, there have been five federally declared national disasters in Pennsylvania during the last four years.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency reported that Pennsylvania spent approximately $82 million in taxpayer money in recovery costs, and the Federal government has spent many times that. Up-to-date building codes represent one of the most cost effective ways of reducing disaster recovery costs -- for every $1.00 spent in disaster mitigation techniques like constructing to the most up-to-date building codes, the country saves $4.00 in rebuilding costs. (FEMA)
The most up-to-date building codes are also more than 15 percent more energy efficient than Pennsylvania’s current codes. Updating Pennsylvania’s codes would save new homeowners between $200-$700 per year, and between $5,460 - $19,832 in net profits over the over the course of a thirty-year mortgage. (Department of Energy; Building Codes Assistance Project estimates). Of course, the increased energy efficiency also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Finally, up-to-date codes include the most current building safety standards and allow for the use of new building technologies.
But Pennsylvania will not realize these benefits for the foreseeable future. Governor Tom Corbett signed a law in 2011 (“Act 1”) that proved so restrictive and unworkable that it effectively guarantees that future editions of the codes will not be adopted unless the law is changed. In 2012, the 19 governor appointees charged with reviewing the 2012 code changes could not comply with the Act 1 requirements, and simply rejected the 2012 code updates in their entirety instead. The review committee will begin to be review the 2015 codes this summer and, without legislative change, there is no reason that the outcome will be any different. As a result, Pennsylvania’s codes will be almost a decade old when they next come up for review.
When communities fail to update their building codes, the burden falls on the citizens. Buildings are less safe and less energy efficient than they should be. Residents pay higher insurance premiums, and, when disaster strikes, taxpayers are left with the rebuilding check. While interest and campaign promises are encouraging, pressure from you is critical to keeping building codes in the campaign spotlight and ensuring the governor, when elected, follows through on UCC reform. For more background information on the Pennsylvania code situation and actions you can take, please go to www.builditsafe.org.
This post was excerpted from a blog posted by the Delaware Valley Green Building Council.
