[Year-Round Housing] Meeting notice - Tues. Feb. 5 - 7PM Library

Mlongreene2 at aol.com Mlongreene2 at aol.com
Fri Feb 1 07:07:48 EST 2008 

Good morning All,  Many issues have come up this week that need quick  
sorting out and I will prioritize them for Tuesdays meeting and get out an  agenda 
later on.   This article in todays Press Herald on "green  standards" is timely 
to one of our planned topics.       Best,  Mark
 
 
_<< back to story  >>_ 
(http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=61109&ac=PHnws) 
    
State  urged to set rules for new-home energy efficiency  
State House: Advocates say  Maine is  way behind on standards that would save 
owners cash and cut pollution.   
By JOHN RICHARDSON,  Staff Writer February 1,  2008   



Jack  Milton/Staff Photographer 
Mark James of WarmTech  Solutions sprays cellulose insulation into walls at 
Clearwater Bend, a  housing project in Westbrook. 

Maine is the only New England state without mandatory  
energy-efficiency standards for new homes, but that may 
change  soon as lawmakers take up two proposals aimed at 
reducing the  financial and environmental costs of heating  
houses. 
One proposal was  introduced Thursday in a report from 
several state agencies calling  for the adoption of Maine's first 
statewide uniform  building code together with energy-efficiency  
standards. 
The other is a bill  that would establish minimum standards 
for insulation, energy-saving  windows and other things, and 
provide tax incentives for new homes  that are built to save even 
more energy. Environmentalists, and at  least some home 
builders, are backing the  effort. 
"We have a lot of  builders out there who are still using 
insulation products that are  substandard for the kind of homes 
we want to build today," said Ashley  Richards, owner of 
construction and insulation businesses in Westbrook  and vice 
president of the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of  
Maine. 
Energy-efficient  homes can save fuel and money the same 
way energy-efficient cars do,  he said.  
"If you use a better  product and install it properly, you will 
actually be putting money in  your pocket," Richards said. "The 
rest of the country is 20 years  ahead of Maine." 
Conservationists say  the code would save homeowners 
money and reduce global warming  pollution that is generated by 
burning oil, the heating fuel of choice  in eight out of 10 Maine 
homes. 
"We believe that  people deserve to know that their home 
meets some minimum standard,"  said Dylan Voorhees of the 
Natural Resources Council of  Maine. 
With heating oil  prices at near-record highs, advocates say 
the idea's time may finally  have arrived. It has been proposed in 
past sessions, but "there just  wasn't the momentum and 
attention to the issue," Voorhees  said. 
It's unclear whether  the idea will face any opposition this 
year. 
The Maine Municipal  Association has objected to past 
efforts because of the cost and  enforcement burden it could 
place on small towns. Most Maine towns have no  building codes 
and no code enforcement officers. 
A lobbyist for the  association could not be reached for an 
interview  Thursday. 
The bill submitted  to the Legislature this week would set up 
a system to train and  register private inspectors. In towns with 
no code enforcement  officers, builders could hire the private 
inspectors to certify that  new homes meet the standards. 
Because there are no  inspections now, it's unknown how 
many homes are built in Maine that do not  meet the 
standards. 
"In southern  Maine,  probably very few developers are 
building them that would not be up to  code, but it can happen," 
said Sen. Philip Bartlett, D-Gorham, sponsor  of the bill. "We've 
certainly heard anecdotally that some (builders)  are." 
The proposed  standards are considered minimal and are not 
expected to make homes  less affordable to buy. And, supporters 
say, they are sure to make  some homes more affordable to live 
in. 
"Sometimes it can be  done less expensively and the savings 
easily make up for any increased  mortgage payment," Bartlett 
said. "This is not a  high-end standard." 
Agencies that build  affordable homes in Maine, including 
the Maine State  Housing Authority and nonprofits, have made 
energy-efficient  construction a major goal because it lowers 
housing costs over  time. 
Clearwater Bend, an  affordable-apartment complex that's 
under construction in Westbrook,  is an example of housing 
that's already far more energy-efficient than  would be required 
under the proposed standards, according to the  builders. 
Bartlett's bill includes a state tax  incentive for homes that 
go beyond the proposed standards and meet  more stringent 
federal Energy Star efficiency guidelines.   
There already is a  federal tax credit, but such homes are 
rarely built in Maine, compared with New Hampshire and others 
states,  according to advocates. 
No hearing has been  scheduled yet on Bartlett's bill. 
The proposal  introduced Thursday is the product of a joint 
study by the State  Planning Office and other state agencies, and 
is expected to become  the basis of a separate bill. 
The proposal, which  also includes a broader set of 
construction standards, does not  include tax incentives for 
energy efficiency or third-party  inspectors. It would impose 
energy-efficiency standards only on towns  with at least 2,000 
residents - those that already are required to  have code 
enforcement officers.  
The proposal does  call for a state program to train local 
inspectors to enforce the  standards. The program would cost 
more than $200,000 a  year. 
Any proposal that  requires money through the state's 
General Fund is sure to be a tough  sell this year. In this case, the 
money for training can be generated  through fees or other 
revenue rather than from taxpayers, said Sue  Inches, deputy 
commissioner of the State Planning  Office. 
Staff Writer John  Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 
or at: 
jrichardson at pressherald.com 


Copyright © 2008 Blethen  Maine Newspapers

_<< back to story  >>_ 
(http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=61109&ac=PHnws)   






**************Start the year off right.  Easy ways to stay in shape.     
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
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