June 15: KCMO City Council Rejects Proposed Ordinance 230507, Which Would Have Delayed Implementation Of 2021 IECC Standards For New Buildings Energy Efficiency

[June 15 update] The June 15 meeting of the KCMO City Council rejected the proposed ordinance no. 230507 by a 7 (opposed) to 4 (support) vote. The date for implementation of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (“IECC”) with a Zero-Code Appendix remains July 1, 2023. Ordinance 220364, which adopted the 2021 IECC, survived the attempts to amend it. Ordinance 220364 has a 90-day grace period following the July 1 effective date, before it becomes mandatory.

[June 14 update] The June 14 meeting of the KCMO City Council Neighborhood Planning And Development Committee considered proposed ordinance no. 230507 by voting to forward this measure without recommendation to the full Council for its June 15 meeting. According to the KCMO City Calendar the full Council will meet at 3:00pm.

[June 9 update] the Neighborhood Planning And Development Committee of the CKCMO City Council will consider proposed ordinance no. 230507 on June 14 at 1:30 at City Hall. This meeting’s agenda is available at this link. This proposed legislation would amend the Council substitute for Ordinance 220364, passed last year, and delay the effective date for implementation of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (“IECC”) with a Zero-Code Appendix to October 1, 2023.

[June 8 update] The June 8 KCMO City Council meeting resulted in returning the proposed Resolution 230471 to the Neighborhood Planning And Development Committee to have it reconsidered next week as an ordinance.

[June 7 update] The June 7 meeting of the KCMO City Council Neighborhood Planning And Development Committee concluded its discussion of proposed Resolution 230471 by voting to forward this measure without recommendation to the full Council for its June 8 meeting. According to the KCMO City Calendar the full Council will meet at 3:00pm. Though the meeting’s agenda has not yet been published on June 7, there is mention by the City Clerk of a Webinar Link for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/89195928794

On October 13, 2022, the KCMO City Council voted 9-4 to approve the substitute for Ordinance 220364, which provided an an update of the City’s Energy Conservation Code, and adopted the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (“IECC”) with a Zero-Code Appendix. The substitute delayed the effective date for implementation to July 1, 2023.

On the June 6, 2023, agenda for the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee is proposed Resolution 230471, which if passed by the Council will delay the effective date another year to July 1, 2024.

The Fact Sheet for Ordinance 220364 shared a background to the rationale for the adoption of the 2021 IECC energy efficiency standards:

Ordinance No. 200418 was introduced on June 4, 2020, to update the Kansas City Building and Rehabilitation Code by adopting the latest editions of the currently adopted, nationally recognized model codes for use in building construction. The 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (“IECC”) with a Zero-Code Appendix was scheduled to be available by the International Code Council in the fall of 2020 to replace the 2018 IECC as the most up to date version of America’s model energy code; and the Council passed Resolution No. 200449 that expressed the Council’s continued commitment to climate action and its desire to delay consideration of an update to the City’s energy efficiency code until the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code with a Zero-Code Appendix was released.

The KCMO 2008 Climate Protection Plan recognizes the large role of buildings and structures in the City as consumers of energy and the concomitant result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Kansas City passed Resolution No. 200005 updating its Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan with goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide 100% from the electricity sector by 2030, 100% greenhouse gas reduction from municipal operations by 2022, and to become climate neutral by 2040 in order to protect the health and welfare of all our residents, and adopting modern building codes is instrumental in meeting this goal.

Because implementing new code regulations results in costs for training and communication, the City would save money by moving directly to the 2021 IECC instead of first adopting the 2018 IECC and then later adopting the 2021 IECC. The adoption of Resolution No. 200449 allowed for further engagement of residents, stakeholder and City staff in the process of developing the language of this proposed ordinance to update the City’s energy efficiency code.