[September 12, 2011] Energy savings may be less than claimed Tweet Sep 12, 2011 (Albuquerque Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The energy savings claimed by both the current, one-of-akind Albuquerque city code -- adopted under Mayor Martin Chavez -- and 2009 international code are based on measurements against the earlier 2006 version of the International Energy Conservation Code. The current city code claims a 30 percent improvement on energy savings over the 2006 international code, according to a July 2009 analysis by the city planning staff. City officials acknowledged last year that the 30 percent improvement is not being achieved on all construction projects. The 2009 international code claims a minimum of a 15 percent improvement in energy savings over the 2006 version. Energy savings are calculated by plugging all the variables in a building design into a computer modeling program. The variables include such things as square footage, insulation, lighting and the mechanical system. The 2009 international code has gone through intensive computer modeling to determine its claims of energy savings, proponents say. The interim, stricter city code wasn't subjected to any outside verification before it was adopted in 2009 beyond the four-page analysis by the planning staff, they say. Challenging the claim "The claim of a 30 percent energy savings has not been substantiated in any real way," said Lynne Andersen of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association. An analysis of the city code's requirements on single-family houses by the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico showed only a marginal savings on utility bills -- $3 to $4 a month -- over the 2009 international code, said Katherine Martinez of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. The city planning staff's June 2009 analysis does not offer a comparison of the savings on residential utility bills between the city code and the 2009 international code. The staff analysis, however, does say the city code would provide a savings of just more than $10 a month from the earlier 2006 international code. The savings estimate is based on utility bills for a two-story, 2,200-square-foot "tract" house in a subdivision. An even more contentious issue than level of energy savings is the cost to achieve that energy savings. Additional costs As a rule of thumb in construction, steps to improve energy efficiency carry additional upfront costs -- the expense of putting more insulation in the walls and ceiling, for example -- with the payback coming gradually in the form of lower utility bills due to the savings to heat and cool the building. Estimates of the additional upfront costs vary in comparisons of the city code and 2009 international code. The city code's impact on construction of a typical single-family house appears to be just a little bit higher than the 2009 international code. Here's the two prevailing estimates: The city planning staff's June 2009 analysis says the city code adds about 2 percent, or $3,674, above what the 2009 international code requires to build a 2,200-square-foot house. The homebuilders association estimates the city code adds 1 percent to 2 percent, from $2,000 to $4,000, to the cost to build a smaller, 1,600-square-foot home. Although it doesn't sound like much, Martinez said the additional cost plays out in the relative affordability of houses in Albuquerque. "For every $1,000 added to the price of a home in Albuquerque, 714 buyers are priced out of homeownership," she said, citing a 2007 study by the National Association of Home Builders. "This is pretty staggering." Commercial costs The city code's impact on commercial construction is less clear, mostly because there's no such thing as a typical commercial building. Using a conventional bidding process, NAIOP determined that the city code added 5 percent, or $91,181, above what the 2009 international code requires to build a 25,000-square-foot warehouse. Using the same method, NAIOP found the stricter, current city code added 7 percent, or $160,728, to the cost to build a 25,000-squarefoot office building. "In today's economic climate, a 5 percent or 7 percent increase in a project's construction cost can be a deal killer," Andersen said. The planning staff's analysis does not compare the cost to comply with the city code to the cost to comply with the 2009 international code. Based largely on a 2007 energy study by a private engineering firm in Albuquerque, the staff analysis did find that compliance with the city code is just slightly more expensive than a commercial project built using the less rigorous 2006 edition of the international code. The city code adds 2 percent to the cost to build a 24,000-square-foot retail or related commercial building compared to the 2006 edition of the international code, the staff analysis says. The city code added 1.6 percent to the cost to build a two-story, 50,000-square-foot office building. ___ (c)2011 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at www.abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]