New home costs may soar an additional $9000 next year because of new statewide policy

OLYMPIA, Wash., December 3, 2023—The Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) on November 28, adopted rules restricting the use of natural gas/propane appliances to adhere with lawmaker’s goals of building zero fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emission homes and buildings by the year 2031. The new effective date for all building codes is March 15, 2024. Greg Lane “Despite hundreds of messages urging the council to reject these restrictive new laws, the Building Code Council moved forward with a de facto ban on natural gas in new homes,” said Greg Lane, Executive Vice President of the Building Industry Association of Washington. “These new rules clearly continue to violate the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which expressly preempts state and local regulations concerning the energy use of many natural gas appliances.” The State Building Code Council voted on May 24, 2023, to delay the effective date of the 2021 codes for 120 days, which changed the effective date from July 1, 2023, to October 29, 2023. On September 15, 2023, the State Building Code Council agreed on another delay. The delay came after Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the City of Berkeley’s natural gas ban stating, “alleging that the Energy Policy and
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