Kansas City 'Green Building Codes' Debated Amid Housing Crisis

The local regulatory effort to save the planet mostly served to stifle local home builders and spike prices.

After weeks of sharing Eco-friendly coverage . . . This latest prog blog update offers a hint at the other side of the story.

Check-it: 

Regional homebuilders want the city to relax the energy-efficiency rules of the building code it put into action last year. Rather than a rigorous checklist that dictates specifics, they want a general scoring system that gives them options to hit the mark on conserving energy. That, they say, can help them  keep costs down and keep housing more affordable.

“What this is intended to do is add flexibility within the process for the contractor, the homebuilder and the homebuyer,” said Will Ruder, the executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City.

Groups defending the existing, stricter code see it as the only way for Kansas City to hit net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City home builders push back on energy efficiency rules, blame them for housing crunch

Builders say that Kansas City's current energy code slows down housing construction and increases costs, but environmentalists believe it is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting energy bills.