Building Industry Association of Washington v. Washington State Building Code Council

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision that found that an energy efficient building energy code adopted by the Washington Building Code Council in 2009 met the requirements for obtaining an exemption under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). Specifically, the court held that the 2009 Code met all seven requirements for obtaining a building code exemption under the statute. A blog post analyzing the decision is available <a href="http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/greenbuildinglaw/2012/06/26/314/">here</a>.

A federal district court in Washington state granted summary judgment in favor of the Washington State Building Code Council and several intervenors concerning claims that proposed amendments to the Washington State Energy Code were preempted by various federal regulations on the basis that they would require homes to have HVAC, plumbing, or water heating equipment whose efficiency exceeds controlling federal standards. Specifically, the court found that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act’s “building code exception” applied to the disputed amendments. This exception allows state and local governments to set energy efficiency targets for new residential construction which can be reached with equipment or products whose efficiencies exceed federal standards, provided the enabling legislation also includes other means to achieve the targets with products that do not exceed the federal standards.