In late August, the Mayor forwarded the 2009 Seattle Energy Code ordinance to the Seattle City Council. It is expected that the ordinance will be referred to the Committee on the Built Environment, as this is the committee that considered the ordinances for the other construction codes. The meeting calendar for the full Seattle City Council and the Committee on the Built Environment can be viewed at www.seattle.gov/council/calendar/default.htm#. Agendas can be found at www.seattle.gov/council/com_assign.htm.
For nonresidential spaces, the intent is to have a grace period for the 2009 Seattle Energy Code that would coincide with the end of the grace period for other Seattle code updates. (See related article.) November 22, 2010 is the last day DPD will be accepting applications using the 2006 codes.
For residential spaces, the 2009 Washington State Energy Code (WSEC) requirements would take effect on the date specified by the Washington State Building Code Council (WSBCC). Since the 2009 WSEC requirements for residential spaces were finalized on November 20, 2009 (nine months ago), there would not be an additional grace period.
According to the WSBCC website, public hearings will be held on September 10, 2010 in Spokane and September 24, 2010 in Olympia regarding the revised effective date for the 2009 WSEC. The WSBCC would then meet on October 15, 2010 to consider the public comments and make a firm decision on the effective date for the 2009 WSEC. While the WSBCC endorsed January 1, 2011 as a preferred effective date at their meeting on June 30, 2010, the effective date could be as early as October 29, 2010 (the end of the current WSBCC emergency rule) to as late as April 1, 2011. For further information on the effective date for the 2009 WSEC, visit the WSBCC website, www.sbcc.wa.gov.
There have been no changes in the text of the 2009 WSEC that the WSBCC had previously adopted in November 2009. Copies of the 2009 WSEC can be purchased from the Washington Association of Building Officials (WABO) at (360) 628-8669 or visit the WABO website, www.wabo.org.
City staff thanks everyone for their participation and contributions to the 2009 Seattle Energy Code. For further information, contact:
John Hogan
(206) 386-9145
john.hogan@seattle.gov