VAIL — Town officials are considering adopting a green building code, but they must first win acceptance for the plan from builders who say cost is one of the biggest hindrances to environmentally friendly construction.
Vail’s new code could be based on a model code issued by the National Association of Home Builders, which focuses on energy-saving measures, said George Ruther, the town’s community-development director. It may be a points-based system that gives builders credit for things like insulating homes well, orienting them to take advantage of solar heating and glazing windows, Ruther said.
That would make the plan similar to Eagle County’s Eco-Build regulations, said Adam Palmer, the county planner who handles environmental regulations.
County workers are careful to explain to builders how the code helps them sell their homes, but the plan has been slow to gain acceptance.
“Anytime you’re increasing regulation or providing another layer, obviously it’s a sensitive issue for somebody whose livelihood is dependent on it,” Palmer said. “Typically, we don’t like to be told what to do, right?”
Probably the most controversial piece of the Eco-Build rules governs new heated driveways and patios, Palmer said. A builder who puts in any external heating has to offer a renewable-energy project on site or pay into a separate Eco-Build fund, he said.
“It definitely pushed the building community a bit, in a good way,” Palmer said. “So high-efficiency heating systems are more standard where they weren’t necessarily so before.”
In general, builders are more interested in “building green” these days, if they can get clients to pay for it. Builders estimate that “green” features can amount to between 2 percent and 40 percent of the cost of a building.
Custom builders often are more open to “green restrictions, since they can get their clients on board from the beginning,” said Brian Sipes, an architect and principal at Zehren and Associates in Avon.
“I tell clients, if you design a normal building and add LEED (a green industry standard) at the end, it can be expensive,” Sipes said. “But if it’s a goal at the very beginning of the design, it really shouldn’t be that hard.”
Kevin Mowder, co-owner of CHC Mountain Structures in Eagle, thinks the Eco-Build rules may make sense, but builders have to be open-minded to potential savings.
“People look at it as a penalty, and it’s not supposed to be,” Mowder said. “You complain, then you say, ‘Oh wow. With good insulation, I’ll recoup that in the next two years.’ ”
Builders like the dollars-and-cents approach, Carpenter said.
The county’s Eco-Build fund has collected about $160,000 per year in the past few years — mostly from builders whose clients want snow-melting driveways. Last year the money paid for 29 residential solar systems in a related county incentive program, Palmer said.
“A snow-melted driveway is pretty much three boilers to run the snow- melt system and one to run the house, so you’re just pushing on a rope,” Palmer said. “Our message is you can still do that, just realize it has an impact. So as long as that impact is mitigated, I guess it’s acceptable.”
