Efficiency for Homes 02.07.08 Press

Portland Press Herald

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=167696&ac=PHedi

Editorial

Energy-efficiency standards make sense for new homes

More efficient homes would save owners money and protect the environment.

February 7, 2008

— With heating-oil prices approaching record heights, it's time to do something that should have been done long ago.

Maine has no standards for energy efficiency in new construction, leaving decisions about insulation and window type to individual builders.

A bill now before the Legislature would create the state's first unified building code, which would include energy-efficiency standards for new homes.

Energy-efficient homes save fuel and money. That's good for the home's buyer, but it has a much broader benefit as well. Energy-efficient homes also produce less greenhouse-gas pollution, which are a cause of global warming.

Maine is the only state in New England without such standards, and Maine people would benefit from them. As proposed, the bill would create minimum standards for new construction and optional higher standards that would qualify the home for state and federal tax credits.

Such standards are already being used by affordable-housing developers, who find that by reducing energy costs, people who could not otherwise qualify for a mortgage can get one.

Enforcement has been an impediment in the past. Most Maine towns have no building code and no code- enforcement officer.

The bill submitted to the Legislature calls for a system of training and registering private inspectors, who could be hired to approve projects in towns that do not have a code-enforcement officer.

As long as the minimum standards are reasonable, they will not put too heavy a burden on builders or home buyers. And if they help people save money on fuel while protecting the environment, these standards would be worthwhile.