Victory for new ABQ building codes

Oct. 2009 - The Sierra Club and Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) led the effort to ensure that the “2009 Interim Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code (2009 Interim AECC)” was adopted by the Albuquerque City Council.

SWEEP focused on ensuring that the 2009 Interim AECC met the Architecture 2030 Challenge--i.e., achieving a 30% efficiency improvement over the 2006 IECC baseline--by maintaining contacts with City staff and a few select City Councilors. The Sierra Club, on the other hand, focused on demonstrating to City Councilors the public's support for greater building efficiency and cost-effective climate solutions by mobilizing members and activists to contact their City Councilors; there were 2 waves of mobilization in June 2009 and again in August 2009 via email alerts and volunteer phone banks. In June 2009, the City Council’s Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Committee voted unanimously to pass the 2009 Interim AECC pending approval of an Economic Impact Analysis, or EIA. Patrick Redmond, the Central Group Chair, testified on behalf of the Sierra Club. The EIA was requested by District 8 Councilor Trudy Jones, with pressure coming from the commercial realtors' lobby; the Central NM Home Builders Association, however, was supportive of passage and implementation of the new AECC. Following approval of the EIA in July 2009, the full City Council voted unanimously to adopt the 2009 Interim AECC at their August 3rd meeting. Councilor Jones offered a floor amendment with some ambiguous regarding the effective date of the new building codes, but the Sierra Club and SWEEP are working with City staff to ensure that new codes take effect no later than December 1, 2009. The building codes can be found at: Albuquerque Building Codes. - Shrayas Jatkar

To get involved with the Sierra Club on related issues, please contact Shrayas Jatkar shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org