Maine Climate Council: Stringent building codes key to reducing greenhouse gases
Screenshot / Courtesy Greater Portland Landmarks
Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine Trust, presented an update on the Maine Climate Council’s Buildings, Infrastructure and Housing Working Group to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in that sector.
Tighter building codes for new construction and renovations, the use of new technology, and training for municipalities and the construction industry are all part of an action plan developed by the Maine Climate Council’s Buildings, Infrastructure and Housing Working Group to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in that industry.
In a Zoom presentation hosted yesterday by Greater Portland Landmarks, working group members Michael Stoddard, executive director of Efficiency Maine Trust; and Brian Ambrette, senior climate resilience coordinator for the Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation and the Future, offered an update on the group’s recommendations.
The recommendations will be part of the council’s Climate Action Plan that’s due to Gov. Janet Mills and the state Legislature by Dec. 1. The council was established by state law, LD 1679, in 2019 to mitigate, prepare for and adapt to climate change.
The goals are to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2040 and at least 80% by 2050.
The climate council established six working groups:
- Buildings, infrastructure and housing
- Coastal and marine
- Natural and working lands
- Transportation
- Energy
- Community resilience planning, public health and emergency management.
Heating, cooling, lighting
Heating, cooling and lighting of buildings is responsible for 30% of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions, explained Stoddard. Residential homes emit 19% of those emissions; commercial buildings represent 11%.
“By and large, in Maine, when we talk about energy, we’re talking about heating,” said Stoddard.
Reducing emissions means either using less energy, through conservation measures such increased insulation; or switching to cleaner fuels, he said.
At 61%, Maine has the highest percentage of homes in the U.S. that are heated by oil.
“If we can shift from petroleum to alternative products, that would help cut greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
The working group is proposing six strategies to tackle emissions:
• Improve the design and construction of new buildings: Provide incentives and code requirements that encourage net-zero, renewable energy ready homes and businesses. Provide training to contractors and code enforcement officers to support compliance.
Setting progressively tighter building codes is long overdue, said Stoddard.
“There’s been little to none of that in this state for a really long time,” he said. “There are now resources available to get going on some of that.
Places like Vancouver, British Columbia, he said, are setting the bar high by requiring that new buildings meet net zero emissions within the next 15 years. The concept combines tight building envelopes, superior insulation and alternative energy sources such as solar photovoltaic systems.
“The economics of this are quite strong,” he said. Done right, he explained, cost savings as a result of energy efficiency over a building’s lifetime is significant. A net-zero home would save more than 500 gallons of heating oil per year, a savings of 8 cents per pound of CO2.
“Saving 500 gallons of heating oil per year would be very meaningful,” Stoddard said. “And studies show the incremental costs of building to this level is far outweighed by reduced energy consumption over the building’s lifetime.”
• Transition to cleaner heating and cooling systems: Provide incentives to encourage consumers to purchase highly efficient heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and efficient, modern wood heat.
Modeling shows that shifting away from fossil fuels to either 90% heat pump or two-thirds heat pump use plus one-third renewable fuel use could plausibly result in reaching the target 75% to 80% reduction in greenhouse gases. The scenarios depend on heat pump technology that’s already commercial available.
“We just need to gradually shift to heat pumps and make sure the grid is sized to supply all the heat pumps,” Stoddard said.
• Improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings: Expanded weatherization programs will reduce emissions and save money for homeowners on utility bills through added storm windows, reduction of air leaks and supplementing insulation.
Many of the 550,000 existing homes in Maine are aging and inefficient, with more than half, 56%, built before 1980. Approximately 20,000 homes since 2010 have been weatherized through methods such as added insulation, air sealing and window replacement to increase efficiency, reduce heating bills, and decrease emissions. The challenge, said Stoddard, is to weatherize the remaining homes.
“We have a long way to go,” he said. “The challenge is it’s dirty, hard work and it’s kind of expensive to do.”
“Deep" energy retrofits to a residence typically cost $50,000. But many Mainers still enjoy cost-effective benefits from doing far less intensive retrofit projects. The average cost of a retrofit weatherization project that uses Efficiency Maine programs is less than $7,000.
Lead by example
• Promote “Lead by Example” programs in existing and new publicly-funded buildings: This work would be accomplished by requiring best practices in construction, including building materials selection, heating, cooling and lighting systems, and enhanced efficiency and weatherization. The programs will save taxpayers money and show what modern construction materials, systems and practices can achieve to reduce both emissions and the operating costs of state and municipal government buildings, schools, universities, and affordable housing.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes: Support industrial facilities that shift from carbon-intensive fuels to cleaner alternatives. Expand funding for industrial energy efficiency and fuel switching projects and establish a task force to recommend additional long-term strategies in this sector.
• Modernize Maine’s electric grid: Make buildings part of the solution and ensure the state’s electricity system is ready for increased electricity use by the building and transportation sectors as they convert to electricity procured from clean, renewable sources. This includes promoting smaller distributed energy resources like solar panels and battery storage located at homes and businesses. Reduce peak periods of high-energy demand on the grid by creating incentives for consumers to use energy at alternative times of the day.
Stoddard noted that technology, such as heat pumps, is already available and results in lower operating costs than conventional building systems.
“And we can make use of Maine-made products like cross-laminated timber,” he said. “We’ve got to have a grid to enable this scenario to unfold, but this will mean a lot of jobs over the next couple of decades as we make this transition.”
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