MAPC issues statement on updated stretch energy code

Oct. 3, 2022 - Boston - The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in Boston today issued the following statement in response to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER)’s final language for the updated stretch energy code and new specialized municipal opt-in code:

"The updated Stretch Code and new Specialized Code help to move our economy away from fossil fuels and make our homes, businesses, and schools healthier, more comfortable, and more resilient spaces. Building codes requiring higher levels of energy efficiency and electrification are one of municipalities’ strongest tools to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new construction and major renovation and accelerate progress toward our urgent climate goals,” said Katherine Antos, Deputy Executive Director for Planning & Sustainability at MAPC.

The Stretch Code updates are the first since 2017 and will enable the 299 cities and towns that have already adopted the Stretch Code to require increasingly higher levels of energy efficiency and start to shift more fully toward electrification. The new Specialized Code is a product of the 2021 Climate Act and provides an opportunity for municipalities to opt into even stronger standards. The Commonwealth is required to update these codes regularly, resulting in increasingly effective codes that reflect the latest technologies.

The reductions in energy use from heating and cooling buildings achieved in both codes will greatly reduce GHG emissions while improving comfort, resilience, health, and lifecycle costs for homes, schools, municipal buildings, offices, and hospitals. Passive House and other highly energy-efficient code requirements for some larger buildings will be positive improvements to the building code. They will also hold developers to the same standards that many who construct subsidized affordable housing are already utilizing. The updates will significantly increase insulation and ventilation performance and, for the first time, apply rigorous requirements to building additions, alterations, and change of use occupancy, in addition to new construction. The new Specialized Code also requires large single-family homes to be zero-energy or all-electric and new buildings using fossil fuels to install solar. MAPC encourages future iterations to expand these measures to the Stretch Code as well as additional building types and offsite renewable options.

“We will be looking for continued improvement towards a truly net zero code in the coming years, informed by the upcoming pilot that will enable 10 communities to ban fossil fuels. At this time, we encourage the cities and towns in our region and across the Commonwealth to adopt the new Specialized Code as soon as possible,” says Julie Curti, Director for Clean Energy at MAPC. “Deployed in complement to other strong local and state building decarbonization policies, from climate-smart zoning to building performance standards, the Specialized Code will be an important new tool in our climate toolbox that can make a real difference in a community today and for decades to come.”