Worcester City Manager Eric Batista is seeking to pause the city’s enforcement of the more strict, or Specialized, version of the Stretch Code.
Massachusetts Stretch Codes were part of the Green Communities Act of 2008. According to the Commonwealth’s energy code website, in 2009, Massachusetts became the first state to adopt an above-code appendix to the “base” building energy code-the “Stretch Code”. The Stretch Code, which emphasizes energy performance, as opposed to prescriptive requirements, is designed to result in cost-effective construction that is more energy efficient than that built to the “base” energy code. The Stretch Code is typically updated every few years, with the most recent update to take effect in 2025. Worcester and Salem were the only two Gateway Cities in Massachusetts to opt into the more strict “Specialized” option of the Stretch Code.
Batista is seeking to pause the city’s strict energy codes, “Our most recent recommendation to the city council is that we’re trying to take a step back and trying to understand all the things that are happening in the market, the implications that the Specialized Stretch Corps has had to the market, especially building here in our community and we’re trying to understand that there’s an ability for us to pause this and take a step back. Take a text back, analyze the inflation costs, analyze the costs related to building these units and see it in as a way that we can pause it until January 1st of 2028.”…