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On November 5, APGA staff held a webinar on the International Code Council (ICC) voting process. Specifically, the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) was discussed, as it is currently being revised. APGA members have the unique opportunity to be an integral part of the voting process, a role that employees of investor-owned utilities do not have.

The webinar provided updates on the voting process and highlighted proposed modifications from the recent ICC Public Comment Hearings, some of which are very concerning. A few stakeholders are suggesting the IECC should mandate homes be “electrification-ready,” meaning they have the circuitry installed for electric appliances, even if natural gas or propane is preferred by the customer and installed by the builder. The reason being that there will obviously be a desire to install electric appliances sometime in the future. As well, some advocates are mandating the IECC include advantages for those buildings with electric vehicle charging. This is a significant distortion of the document scope, since the standard is concerned with building energy efficiency, not emissions savings from vehicles. As evidenced by these proposals, APGA members that are governmental member voting representatives need to engage to challenge these proposals.

APGA staff is happy to help ensure individuals that are eligible know how to act. Do not hesitate to reach out. A recording of the webinar was made and can be found at www.apga.org/webinars.

For questions on this article, please contact Stuart Saulters of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ssaulters@apga.org.