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Connecting Energy Codes to Sustainable Land Use Practices

A Pace Law School Case Study

Introduction
Energy codes are an effective tool for reducing building en-
ergy use. Yet they are insufficient for solving other crucial en-
ergy and environmental concerns related to buildings, such as
transportation and the distribution of scare land resources.
Communities dedicated to achieving sustainable energy fu-
tures must commit to enacting comprehensive energy policies
that include innovative land use and zoning regulations in Courtesy of Wikemedia Commons, Credit
concert with stringent, mandatory building energy codes.
In many ways, land use and zoning regulations do for cities what building codes do for buildings: they determine
what can be built and how. Those that address energy and environmental issues go by a number of labels, such as
smart growth, sustainable communities, green development, etc. Together, these practices seek to reduce energy
use and manage the impacts of the built environment in ways that promote efficiency and equity, foster commu-
nity, and improve quality of life.
The Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP) and the Land Use Law Center (LULC) at the Pace Law School (Pace)
have been collaborating to explore the parallels between sustainable land use practices and energy codes. This
partnership seeks to emphasize the ways in which energy codes are an essential component of any sustainability
initiative, to leverage existing regional land use infrastructure to improve energy code implementation, and inform
the national dialogue on these issues.

Overview
In April 2009, BCAP gave a presentation on green and advanced energy codes at the American Planning Associa-
tion’s (APA) annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minn.
Pace professors from the LULC attended the APA presentation and afterwards invited BCAP to present at a training
program in May for the Mayor’s Redevelopment Roundtable (MRR), an LULC program for the local politicians and
counsels who represent the nine largest cities in the Hudson Valley. Started in 2008 to advance sustainable rede-
velopment practices in the region, one of the MRR’s goals is to “reduce costs and increase livability through green
buildings.” The LULC brought in BCAP to advise on a number of energy and above code issues involving the na-
tional model codes, green codes, and their adoption in New York State.
Subsequently, BCAP also served on a green building panel for a climate change workshop for municipal officials
hosted by the New York State Bar Association and held at Pace in October.
Following these presentations and discussions, the LULC partnered with BCAP on a joint request for funding—

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attached to a larger BCAP proposal to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
—to conduct an energy codes demonstration project with the MRR.

BCAP’s Role
BCAP’s ongoing collaboration with the LULC highlights a number of vital functions that BCAP serves in promoting
energy and above/green code adoption and implementation around the country.
One of BCAP’s primary functions is to provide detailed and
relevant information to states, local communities, and other
interested stakeholders, such as the LULC. BCAP staff edu-
cated LULC professors about a number of codes-related top-
ics relevant to the region, including technical aspects of
codes, cost data, updates to the New York State energy
code, and the difficulties associated with cost-effective en-
ergy code compliance and enforcement. Due to strong inter-
est from the MRR in going beyond the state’s baseline code,
BCAP staff also addressed a number of green and above
code issues, such as the status of updates to the national
Courtesy of Wikemedia Commons, Credit model codes, energy requirements in LEED and other green
rating programs, and best practices for advanced energy code and incentive programs in other cities and states.
BCAP often presents at national and regional conferences, panels, workshops, and other public forums. For those
unfamiliar with or unsure of the benefits of codes, such presentations are crucial for entering codes into the
greater energy and sustainability discussion as critical and realistic tools for reducing building energy use. Through
the partnership with the LULC, BCAP’s presentations clarified the need for the MRR and other local government
officials in the region to incorporate building energy codes into their sustainability initiatives.
Such partnerships also support BCAP’s mission to document energy code best practices and lessons learned. Build-
ing codes are at their core a local issue, as builders and code officials—not state legislators or national advocates—
are responsible for complying with and enforcing the code. Therefore, it is essential that BCAP helps to advance
successful code implementation strategies, particularly on the local and regional levels. Documenting demonstra-
tion projects, like the NYSERDA proposal (below), will allow other locations across the country to duplicate the suc-
cesses and avoid the pitfalls of innovative, on-the-ground energy code work.

NYSERDA’s Project Proposal

BCAP’s collaboration with the LULC ultimately led to a joint proposal to NYSERDA for an energy code demonstra-
tion project with the MRR on codes enforcement in the Hudson Valley region.
The overarching goal of the MRR is to “achieve sustainable growth” and “maintain a high quality of living” in its
nine participating cities through urban redevelopment projects. A major piece of this effort is to improve the en-
ergy efficiency, affordability, and environmental impact of buildings—three key measures of sustainable growth—
by reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from both existing buildings and new construction in these
communities. One important way to do this is to improve the enforcement of building energy codes.
The LULC is interested in exploring the possibility of incorporating energy code enforcement into the existing land
use planning infrastructure. In the Hudson Valley region, the land use system requires review boards to conduct

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detailed assessments of development projects prior to project approval. If the local jurisdiction authorizes and
equips these boards to enforce the energy code—and code compliance becomes another condition for approval—
then this system could provide another avenue for ensuring effective enforcement of the energy code.
Another possibility is to take an inter-municipal approach to code enforcement. With local government resources
perpetually stretched thin, proper energy code enforcement sometimes becomes a logistical casualty. Communi-
ties in the MRR could reduce costs and improve the efficiency of the process by pooling together their limited re-
sources to establish a regional infrastructure in which the MRR communities train and equip a set number of code
officials on energy code enforcement, as opposed to each city having to train its own inspectors individually. The
LULC already supports inter-municipal and regional cooperation and collaboration for land use concerns. Applying
this basic framework to energy codes is a logical next step worth exploring.
The proposal outlines multiple steps that the LULC will take to address energy code enforcement issues. First, the
LULC will study current local enforcement practices and analyze how to overcome existing barriers. Drawing on
this research and its knowledge of preexisting enforcement mechanisms for land use planning, it will then suggest
enhancements to the State code and the existing enforcement infrastructure, as well as above code incentives to
encourage private retrofits and efficiency upgrades.
Based on these findings, the LULC will work with the local jurisdictions of the MRR to conduct a demonstration
project that tests these ideas in the field. Finally, the LULC will hold workshops for local jurisdictions to share its
findings and discuss regional opportunities for future collaboration and partnership in code enforcement. It will
also document its findings for New York State with the goal of informing the statewide effort to achieve 90% com-
pliance by 2017, as mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
As a project advisor, BCAP will be in position to support the LULC’s research on local enforcement and analyze the
results of its demonstration project. BCAP will then share this information with its extensive network of advocates
and other allies across the nation.

Conclusion
Rising global awareness of the need for sustainable development through building energy codes, land use plan-
ning, high-density and mixed-use neighborhoods, and other progressive energy and smart growth policies makes
cross-sector collaborations such as this one all the more relevant. Both the LULC and BCAP benefit from working
together and sharing expertise.
Teaming up with BCAP provides the LULC with national energy codes expertise and support in the form of advice,
educational presentations and project collaboration, as outlined above. Underlying each of these functions is the
role of credibility. BCAP’s position in the energy code arena gives the LULC additional authority on codes issues
with the MRR and other regional partners.
Likewise, one of BCAP’s goals is to work with local and regional advocates who have established relationships with
local policymakers and are already in a position to influence policy development. Joining forces with the LULC gives
BCAP access to the MRR, a group that represents a half million residents and is eager to advance energy efficiency
in buildings through green and above code measures. BCAP also benefits from learning more about land use prac-
tices and examining their potential for improving energy code compliance and enforcement.

BCAP
Dedicated to the adoption, implementation, and advancement of building energy codes
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