Stretch energy code to be up for consideration again
Date: 1/24/2012
Jan. 25, 2012By Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.comAGAWAM — According to Deborah Dachos, director of Planning and Community Development, the town is will make a second attempt to achieve Green Community status this spring.
Speaking as chair of the Energy Commission, Dachos told
Reminder Publications the commission would resubmit a proposal to adopt the state’s Stretch Energy Code to the City Council within the next few weeks. She hopes to obtain council approval before May, which is the deadline for Agawam to apply for Green Community status under the state Department of Energy Resources. “We’ve been talking about it hypothetically, and when we met on January 11th, we decide to proceed with [the application] once again,” Dachos said.
Adopting the Stretch Energy Code is one of five criteria that Agawam must meet to be eligible to submit a Green Communities application. A Green Communities designation would allow the town to apply for state and federal grants to assist with renewable power and other energy projects.
The council rejected the Stretch Energy Code by a vote of 5 to 4 when it was brought before them two years ago. Dachos said the commission was required by town charter to wait two years before it could submit the same proposal for council consideration.
Created by the Massachusetts Board of Building Standards and Regulations (BBRS) in 2009, the Stretch Energy Code is an optional set of regulations in the state building code that increases energy efficiency requirements for new residential and some new commercial construction, as well as any residential or commercial property renovations that need to meet building code requirements, by at least 20 percent over current building codes.
Dachos noted that had Agawam adopted the Stretch Energy Code two years ago, it would now be required to update those requirements “to remain 20 percent more efficient than the [updated 2012 state] building code.”
When the Stretch Energy Code came before the council two years ago, Dachos said opponents threw out “all kinds of outrageous costs for home buyers” if the town adopted it.
“The cost ends up being between $4,000 and $6,000 for buyers. But that cost is recouped within two to four years in energy savings [for the home],” she said.
If the council approves the Stretch Energy Code this time, Dachos said Agawam should be in a good position to apply for Green Community status, as it has already met three of the state’s five criteria — it allows solar projects as right of zoning, it has a expedited permitting process for all building projects, and it is replacing older municipal vehicles with more energy-efficient models as needed.
She said the fourth criteria — a multi-page document outlining how the town plans to reduce its energy consumption by 20 percent in five years — was mostly completed two years ago, and only needs minor adjustments “which wouldn’t require that much work” on the part of the commission prior to submission.
