Every three years, local governments and industry officials from across the United States come together to update the model building codes used in all 50 states ― adding requirements for some insulation here, or new windows there, to cut back on how much energy it takes to keep a new house lit and warm.
By law, federal agencies are supposed to swiftly assess those new codes and, as long as they really do save energy, make meeting them a requirement for obtaining a government-backed loan to purchase a new house. Since a sixth of all new homes are financed with loans from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration or from the Department of Agriculture, real estate developers who want to sell what they build have a strong incentive to make sure their houses meet the criteria for federal financing. Yet in apparent violation of the law, the federal standards haven’t been updated in years, and remain at 2009 levels.
In May, the Biden administration moved to finally update the eligibility rule for housing loans, requiring that all new homes the federal government helps purchase be built to the latest and greenest codes ever adopted, cutting back on energy use by 35% and shaving $74 million per year off the utility bills of people living in those houses. While the new rules are still crawling through a slow bureaucratic process, they could take effect by next year.
But not if Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) gets his way.
Last month, Rubio introduced an amendment to a federal budget bill that would stop the process in its tracks, barring HUD from using any money from Congress to “impose updated minimum energy efficiency standards” on new housing loans.
The Senate could vote on the amendment as early as this week, as part of a government funding agreement to help avoid a shutdown when the last-minute budget deal that Congress passed earlier this month expires on Nov. 17.
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If enacted, Rubio’s proposal would have far-reaching effects, essentially forcing the federal government to continue subsidizing the construction of thousands of new homes every month that cost more to heat and cool at a time when energy prices are surging.
As the U.S. looks to slash planet-heating emissions, every home built to outdated standards only digs the country into a deeper carbon hole. Renovating an existing building to meet the most current energy-efficiency standards later almost always costs more than simply building those houses to the most modern codes in the first place.
There’s also a risk of a rift growing between housing standards across the country, with states like Illinois already following the latest rules and those like Idaho remaining stuck more than a decade in the past.
Compared to the currently required 2009 standards, single-family homes built to the latest codes save an average of $14,536 over the life of the house, and more than $5,000 per multifamily unit, according to an analysis by federal researchers. Meeting the requirements would add just 2% to the average cost of the new home, and would pay for itself in three years.
Biden’s proposal to raise the standards for federally financed homes has won support in public comments from consumer watchdog groups, environmentalists, and the Housing Assistance Council, a coalition of nonprofits that advocate for affordable housing throughout rural America.
“Low-income households already bear significant energy cost burdens compared to higher income households, and this amendment will exacerbate these inequities.”
– Letter from consumer watchdog groups urging the Senate to vote “no” on Rubio’s amendment
Enacting Rubio’s amendment “would raise the total cost of living for families who are most sensitive to rising prices through higher and more volatile energy bills,” according to a letter signed by groups such as the National Consumer Law Center, which advocates for people struggling to pay utility bills, and the National Association of State Energy Officials, which includes technical experts from state governments across the country.
The letter, a copy of which HuffPost obtained before it went public Wednesday morning, urges senators from both parties to vote “no” on the proposal.
“Without the new energy standards, low-income households will unnecessarily endure decades of higher energy bills and homes that are less safe in the face of extreme heat and cold,” the letter reads. “Low-income households already bear significant energy cost burdens compared to higher income households, and this amendment will exacerbate these inequities.”
Still, homebuilders complain that the higher upfront costs eat into profits, and they balk at anything that even slightly increases the cost of new housing at a time when home prices are growing far faster than wages.
When local governments concerned about climate change banded together during the most recent code-writing convention to enact the most ambitious energy-saving building codes ever passed, trade groups such as the National Association of Home Builders loudly protested and teamed up with gas utilities to eliminate mandates that would make every new home compatible with electric appliances and car chargers. The majority of the code remained intact and took effect in 2021, raising the energy efficiency of new homes by 9% compared to 2018.
Heeding their complaints, the International Code Council, the nonprofit consortium of governments and industry groups that sets the codes, took the dramatic step in 2021 of revoking governments’ right to vote on energy-related codes. Despite objections from the Biden administration, the ICC instituted a new code-writing system that gives industry groups equal say with governments.
Sources involved in the latest code-writing process, but who aren’t authorized to speak publicly, told HuffPost the new process actually gives industry officials more control than governments, since corporations can pay lobbyists to attend every session while local Leslie Knope-types serve on a mostly voluntary basis on top of their normal government job duties.
Federal election filings show that Rubio received more donations from the homebuilding industry’s political action committees than any other senator over the past two election cycles.
Neither Rubio’s office nor the NAHB immediately responded to requests for comment.