Under pressure from Gov. Bob Ferguson, the Washington state Building Code Council is wrestling with how far it can bend residential energy codes to speed up rebuilding homes destroyed by wildfires this summer.
Ferguson issued an emergency proclamation in August directing the council to identify state laws, rules or code requirements “that may be waived or suspended” if enforcing them strictly would hinder replacement of nearly 700 homes lost in blazes, most in the vicinity of Spokane in eastern Washington.
Earlier this month, the governor asked the council to adopt an emergency rule allowing owners of homes built before 2015 to rebuild in line with less restrictive residential energy codes adopted in 2015. For homes constructed after 2015, the governor is pushing for owners to be able to rebuild to the energy code that was in effect when their residence was first constructed…