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Date: 6/26/2023
NORTHAMPTON — The city of Northampton is continuing its journey of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 by discussing the possibility of adopting Massachusetts’ Municipal Opt-in Specialized Stretch Energy Code.
The code, which has already been adopted by 17 communities throughout the commonwealth, focuses mainly on achieving net-zero buildings by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to all-electric during new building constructions.
The opt-in code is not carbon neutral, but it helps municipalities reach their carbon goals more efficiently through energy efficiency, reduced heating loads and efficient electrification.
For the next couple of weeks, the city will talk about this new code and decide whether they will adopt it for future building construction.
According to Adele Franks, a member of the activist organization Climate Action Now, this new opt-in specialized stretch code would lower the HERS rating of a building or Home Energy Rating System.
“The lower the HERS rating, the more energy efficient a home is,” Franks said.
Mass.gov states that the current phased-in stretch code provides a HERS rating of 52/55, while the new opt-in specialized stretch code would require a HERS rating of 45 for all-electric buildings.
Under the opt-in specialized stretch code, the use of fossil fuels such as gas, propane and biomass is still permitted, but additional requirements must be followed for on-site solar generation and pre-wiring for future electrification of any fossil fuel equipment.
The latter requirement means that a building using fossil fuels would need to be wired to accommodate future electric use and outlets must be installed near the fossil fuel equipment for future installation of electric equipment.
According to Franks, if fossil fuels are used under the opt-in specialized code, the building would also be required to have an even lower HERS rating than a building using all-electric.
“All electric construction would have to meet a HERS rating of 45,” Franks said, of the opt-in code. “It would have to be an even lower rating of 42 for buildings that use fossil fuel combustion for heating.”
Currently, there are three different building energy codes that municipalities in the state can adopt: the base code, the stretch code and the opt-in specialized stretch code. According to Franks, there are close to 300 municipalities in Massachusetts that are considered “green communities,” including Northampton.
Under the law, these communities are already required to follow the state’s updated stretch code, where there are more energy-efficient requirements for residential and commercial buildings than under the base code.
However, by adopting the opt-in specialized stretch code, Northampton would embrace even more aggressive energy-efficient coding.
“I think it’s one of those things that’s keeping with our climate goals and Climate Regeneration Plan,” said City Councilor Rachel Maiore, of the opt-in specialized stretch code. “If we pre-electrify these buildings now, we won’t have to retrofit them. So, there’s savings there; there’s a vision there, and I think it will be easier down the road.”
In order for Northampton to adopt this opt-in specialized code, they will need to pass an order at a future City Council meeting. For now, though, the plan is for the council to unpack the nuances of the opt-in specialized stretch code at the Legislative Matters meeting on July 10 at 5 p.m.
According to Franks, once the new code is adopted by the City Council, there is a six to 12-month lag time before the code is instituted.