(Boston
Orange編譯) 麻州政府今 (7) 日宣佈，麻州將獲得美國能源部 (DOE)撥款390萬元，以全面採用、實施更新的能源及特定建築法規。
麻州能源資源局 (DOER)將用這筆錢來為可負擔住宅業，提供實地培訓及辦理補助，以支持地方建築法規官員，並使得分享最佳做法，以促進公平地採用並實施更新法規。
採用新法規預計到2030年時，可節省約50萬噸的溫室瓦斯排放，對新建築幾乎或不會造成任何成本增加，還可在建築物生命周期的建築和營運上，節省大約210億元成本。
若在麻州成功實施更新法規，估計未來5年可避免240萬噸的二氧化碳排放，而且可能促使東北部及氣候相似區域更快的採用零延伸法規。
Massachusetts Celebrates Nearly
$4 Million in Federal Funds to Support Energy-Efficient Building Codes
Funds
will help lower energy costs for residents and businesses and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions
Boston – The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced it was
selected by the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) to receive a competitive grant for $3.9 million. The funds will support the adoption and
implementation of the updated Stretch Energy and Specialized building codes throughout Massachusetts. The Department of Energy Resources
(DOER) will use the grant to offer field-based training to aid implementation in the affordable housing industry, support local
building code officials, and enable the sharing of regional best practices to advance the
equitable adoption and implementation of the updated codes.
“Our administration sees an unprecedented opportunity to compete
for federal dollars to support our communities and advance our clean energy
transition,” said Governor Maura Healey. “This grant will give a
critical boost to our efforts to make our buildings more energy efficient and
lower costs for residents and businesses. We’re grateful to the Biden-Harris
Administration for their support of this important work.”
“This funding will directly support our local communities with
outreach and training,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “The
updated building codes lower energy costs and create healthier buildings and
cleaner air in our cities and towns. The Biden-Harris Administration
understands that we need robust collaboration across government to combat the
climate crisis.”
“Building decarbonization is a key component of Massachusetts’
Clean Energy and Climate Plans and will save households and businesses from
reliance on expensive, imported, volatile fossil fuels,” said Energy and
Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “Efficiency and
electrification of new construction is one of the most cost-effective
strategies to achieve emissions reductions in the building sector and will help
Massachusetts meet its climate goals.”
“Energy efficiency measures and transitioning building heating
away from fossil fuels will reduce emissions from residential and commercial
buildings and reduce the Commonwealth’s total energy demand,” said
Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Elizabeth Mahony. “This funding
will help us accelerate the broad and
equitable local adoption of our new energy codes, and help the design and construction community and our local code
officials through the learning curve of the first few years of implementation.”
Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the DOE’s
competitive awards will help states, cities, tribes, and partnering
organizations implement updated energy codes for buildings. DOER will partner with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), NorthEast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), and New Buildings
Institute (NBI) to use this funding in support of the adoption and
implementation of the updated stretch code and the new Specialized code.
Last year, DOER updated the stretch energy code and introduced the new municipal
opt-in Specialized stretch energy code. The Healey-Driscoll Administration
anticipates that the stretch energy codes will save an estimated 500,000 tons
of greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2030 with no-to-minimal costs to new
construction and $21 billion in lifecycle cost savings in both construction and
operating costs. Greenhouse gas emissions savings is projected to rise to
694,000 tons per year by 2035 from new construction relative to today’s
national model energy code.
Successful deployment of the updated codes in Massachusetts is
projected to avoid 2.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next five years, with the potential to catalyze faster adoption of net zero
stretch codes throughout the Northeast and similar climate zones. Currently,
construction in 282 Massachusetts communities follows the stretch energy code,
and 18 communities recently adopted the Specialized code.
