Sierra Club Urges Speedy Update of Green Building Code

Dear Mayor Bowser,

The Sierra Club applauds your leadership on climate change. You pledged that DC would be carbon neutral by 2050, then signed the strongest clean energy law in the nation to help make that happen, after having already directed DC government agencies to come up with visionary plans including Sustainable DC 2.0 and Clean Energy DC.

Despite DC’s progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, further measures are needed to move us closer to your goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. One cost-effective measure to further reduce carbon pollution is updating the District of Columbia Construction Codes. The 2018 update is already underway but delayed, and the Sierra Club requests that your administration implement the updated codes in a timely manner.

From a climate perspective, the most important part of the code update is the Energy Conservation Code, which if updated properly will increase building energy efficiency, reduce energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions while saving money for businesses, homeowners and tenants.

Unfortunately, DC is already behind on the building code target dates set out in these documents. Clean Energy DC states: “the latest code cycle is expected to occur in 2018, with the proposed new code scheduled to be released for public comment in early 2018.” The draft code was released for the first round of public comment only late last year. It is still under review by the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs (OPLA). The Sierra Club asks that the review be concluded soon. The building code update is vital to meet your commitment of carbon neutrality by 2050. The code update must not be delayed further.

Decarbonizing our city is necessary for the survival of our residents. Building codes play a central role in that effort. The Sierra Club asks that your administration move expeditiously to update the codes and protect our city and our residents.

Sincerely,

Mark Rodeffer
Chair, Sierra Club DC Chapter

CC:
Ernest Chrappah, Acting Director, Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs
Jill Abeshouse Stern, Chair, Construction Codes Coordinating Board
Tommy Wells, Director, Department of Energy & Environment