This Week's Codes And Standards, April 24

Concerns over increased construction costs following Trump executive orders

President Donald Trump recently signed executive orders that could raise the cost of construction projects. Trump aims to place new restrictions on foreign worker visas and limit the materials that public agencies can buy from foreign manufacturers. The President’s “Buy American, Hire American” order includes increased restrictions on the waivers that public agencies use to buy goods from overseas.

That measure requires agency chiefs to sign off on any exemptions to domestic sourcing requirements and mandates that transportation projects use steel that has been melted and poured in the U.S. Trump’s actions include a revamping of the H-1B skilled-worker lottery program that governs certain foreign workers’ ability to work in the U.S.

The executive order calls for a 220-day review period by agency heads to figure out how to make the changes necessary to comply. There will be no changes to existing rules for several months. There is concern that these actions will impact material costs for the construction industry as a whole.

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South Florida officials already considering possible climate change impacts on home markets

Concern is starting to mount in South Florida over the impact of possible climate change-induced flooding. In a Bloomberg report, the mayor of Coral Gables said he wonders if home values would decline gradually or precipitously if, say, a bank refuses to issue a mortgage over fears of future flooding. Or will an insurer refusing to issue a homeowners policy trigger a selloff? The fear is that a drop in home values could come even before flood waters destroy a single home.

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Miami. Photo: Pixabay

Brochure on tools to document home energy efficiency features available

The Home Performance Coalition (HPC), with assistance from the Appraisal Institute and the Building Codes Assistance Project, published a two-page brochure that educates home-buyers, homeowners, and energy efficiency contractors on the importance of documenting a home’s energy efficient features in a standard format. This is important to ensure that they are taken into account during an appraisal. The brochure also provides contractors and homeowners with links to tools that can be used to verify a home energy efficiency upgrade has been performed.

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DOE delay on efficiency standards, test procedures will create uncertainty for manufacturers

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued delay notices recently for two energy efficiency standards and three test procedures, which creates uncertainty for manufacturers and industry, according to a policy advisor with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The delays impact effective dates for energy efficiency standards for ceiling fans and the design and construction of new federal low-rise residential buildings, and for test procedures for measuring the energy use of central air conditioners and heat pumps, air compressors, and walk-in coolers and freezers. The compliance dates may remain unchanged, but delaying the effective date creates uncertainty for product manufacturers and their supply chains, the advisor writes.

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Startups purchase homes for reselling, remove hassle of home selling for owners