Green Building Law Blog : Green Building Lawyer & Attorney : Shari Shapiro: Calliope Communications, LLC

The Court of Appeals of the State of New Mexico handed down a limited win for energy code advocates, holding that adopting changes to building codes that removed energy conservation provisions without any justification violated administrative procedure. The decision is available here.

Between 2006 and 2012, the construction and energy codes adopted in many jurisdictions have incorporated provisions increasing the energy efficiency of buildings built to code by 30% (15% from the 2006 to the 2009 codes, and an additional 15% from 2009 to 2012). 

As I have posted about previously, there is a trend nationwide to resist adoption of the 2012 codes, in part based on the increased energy conservation requirements. In the case of New Mexico, the state had adopted codes which had energy conservation requirements beyond those in the 2009 energy codes. 

The New Mexico Construction Industries Commission (the "Commission") sought to adopt changes that would have removed any energy conservation provisions from the New Mexico codes that exceeded the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).

The Commission held several public meetings and solicited public comments on the code changes.  Then, at a June 2, 2011 meeting, after a brief and (frankly) confusing statement by the Chair of the Commission, the Commission voted to adopt the code changes without further discussion.

Several groups including the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, Environment New Mexico, several green builders, the Sierra Club and other sued to overturn the Commission's decision for (among other arguments) being "arbitrary and capricious" due to the Commission's lack of discussion and justification for the decision. 

The Court of Appeals held that the Court could not even determine whether the Commission's decision was valid because the Commission failed to provide "what facts and circumstances were considered and the weight given to those facts and circumstances."  Southwest Energy Efficiency Project v. New Mexico Construction Industries Comm'n, No. 313838, April 4, 2013 (N.M. Ct. Appeals) at 10.  The Court remanded the Codes to the Commission for reconsideration, with a justification of its reasons for its decision. 

The reason why I characterize the decision as a "limited win" is that, assuming that the Commissioners are the same, there is no reason why the decision on the code adoption will change. If the code revisions are again adopted, with justification, the Plaintiffs will have to institute another legal action, and demonstrate that the justification provided by the Commission is arbitrary and capricious. 

However there may be value to the plaintiffs simply by filing the suit and making the Commissioners justify to the citizens of New Mexico in writing why the homes they live in should not be energy efficient. 

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On June 26, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the BIA v. State of Washington case. The opinion can be downloaded here.

 In its decision, the Ninth Circuit held that the Washington State energy efficient building code was not preempted by Federal law.  This ruling was contrary to the ruling in a companion case, AHRI v. City of Albequerque, which was before the Federal District Court for the District of New Mexico. In the Albuquerque case, the court held that the code was preempted. 

Because there was a split, the interesting question is whether the cases, when read together, create a clear legal framework for ensuring that local energy efficient building codes are not preempted. In my opinion, the Washington court did not articulate a clear rule that can be used to guide local governments through the preemption waters. 

Both Albuquerque and the State of Washington passed building codes requiring that new buildings acheive certain levels of energy efficiency. In their suits, the trade associations alleged that the codes were invalid because they were preempted by Federal law.  Specifically, the trade associations alleged that the codes mandated the use of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that exceeded the energy efficiency standards set by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 ("EPCA"), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6295, et seq.

The Albuquerque code offered two paths--a prescriptive path, under which the installation of HVAC exceeding the Federal standard was required, and a performance path, under which a builder could choose how to acheive the required level of efficiency.  Early on, the Albequerque court held that the prescriptive path was preempted.  Ultimately, the court found that the performance path was not severable from the prescriptive path, and did not reach a verdict on the preemption of the performance path. 

The Washington code did not have a prescriptive path.  Rather, the Washington code had a point system, where different building techniques, including the installation of energy efficient HVAC systems, acheived different "scores."   

The Washington court differentiated the Washington and Albequerque codes based on the costs imposed on the builder for not using high efficiency HVAC equipment, not to the difference between a prescriptive and a performance standard.  The court reasoned:

Albuquerque’s ordinance imposed costs, as a matter of law, on builders who installed certain covered products meeting federal standards, by requiring the builder to install additional products that would compensate for not using a higher efficiency product. As the [Albequerque] court explained, “if products at the federal efficiency standard are used, a building owner must make other modifications to the home to increase its energy efficiency.” The Albuquerque ordinance thus effectively required use of higher efficiency products by imposing a penalty through the code itself.

Here, by contrast, the Washington Building Code itself imposes no additional costs on builders. The district court noted that there are “substantial differences” between the Washington Building Code and Albuquerque’s ordinance. It correctly rejected the Plaintiffs’ argument concerning subsection (B), explaining that the Washington Building Code created no penalties, and did not require higher efficiency products as the “only way to comply with the code.”

In the Washington code, however, it appears that the same costs are imposed on the builders.  If a builder chooses to use a standard HVAC system, the builder must make other changes to acheive the required points.  Later in the opinion, the Court acknowledged that the cost of adopting the other changes (and not installing more efficient HVAC equipment) could be higher. 

Unfortunately, I do not see how the Washington court's analysis works to differentiate the Albuquerque code from the Washington code.  As a result, it does not make clear what type of structure is "safe" for local governments to adopt, and not risk a preemption fight. 

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