Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

While Mesa County and the rest of the state of Colorado are experiencing a housing shortage and an affordability crisis, Mesa County is preemptively updating its building codes to align with the 2021 energy standards, aiming to avoid the more stringent and costly requirements set to be enforced by the state of Colorado in 2026.

The county is using this opportunity to reorganize and streamline parts of its code as well. County Commissioner Cody Davis and Chief Building Official Darrell Bay detailed the county’s efforts to stay ahead of these changes.

“Starting in 2026, if you change a word, you’re updating,” Davis said of the impending state mandates.

By making necessary changes that increase efficiencies and updating to the 2021 energy code now, Mesa County positions itself to not be mandated to update to the 2024 standards, which Davis calls an “energy code on steroids” that the state plans to implement in a couple of years. Davis, who was involved in the development of the low-carbon code, said he was one of the few voices advocating for affordability during the process, but he was consistently outvoted on the board.

At the commissioners administrative public hearing on Feb. 25, Bay said, “Between all the codes being adopted, there are around 600 significant changes in the newer codes. This number may seem extremely high, but it’s important to understand that the majority of the codes are reorganizations of the codes, clarifications, allowed uses of the new construction methods and materials.

“Changes don’t always mean more restrictions or higher costs. In fact, some of the changes in the newer codes will make compliance simpler, which will likely reduce costs. Our goal with these code changes is to provide as many choices for the users and let them make the decisions as to what best works for their projects. Our office will work with the building community to make the changes between the current and the proposed changes as smooth as possible.”

Some of the new requirements in Mesa County include making homes electric, EV- and solar-ready.

Davis explained that “EV-ready” homes must have raceways for wires, sufficient space in the electrical panel and a properly sized panel to handle electric vehicle loads. Homes must also be electric-ready, meaning if a gas appliance is used, such as a furnace or cooktop, an electrical conduit must be run to that area for future conversion to electric.

Additionally, homes must be solar-ready, which involves running electrical conduit to roof areas suitable for solar panels and ensuring that south-facing roof planes are kept clear of exhaust vents. Some of these changes will require rearranged house designs. 

The county’s strategy to update to the 2021 standards is a step some counties will not even take, because they may choose to avoid updates altogether to escape the state’s extreme measures.

“So a lot of counties, they’re never going to update their code again, which is not necessarily what you want,” Davis said. “Because when you have updates in engineering standards or good energy updates for your code or something that’s reasonable, they’re not going to even touch it now, because they’ve got these crazy environmental policies.”

Davis also alluded to the idea that in many ways new energy codes from previous updates have created diminishing returns as they have become more and more strict. One example he gave was how updates had made homes so airtight that builders are required to install Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) systems that use electricity to bring in fresh air after heating and filtering it. He said homes used to allow for a small amount of fresh air leakage, so they wouldn’t require mechanical intervention.

“So, you’re going to make me seal it up so tight that cold air can’t come in, now you’re going to force me to introduce cold air to the house,” Davis said. “But then I have to condition it first before I bring it in. Some of those ERV systems are about 15 grand.” 

Davis emphasized the importance of builders staying informed and prepared, noting the county plans to phase in the changes with a three-month transition period during the fall so builders can become used to the changes before they officially go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

The county also is offering code classes for community contractors, starting in April, to help with the transition.

“We’re trying to give people as much runway as possible, so that we’re not hurting people,” Davis said.