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The Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (KCHBA) called on Congress today to oppose energy code mandates that raise the cost of housing and do very little to increase energy efficiency for home owners.

Testifying on behalf of the KCHBA before the House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee, Kansas City home builder Brian Tebbenkamp told lawmakers how inflexible energy codes can increase construction costs and deter new home construction.

“The 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) was supposed to be a model for states and local governments to adapt to their circumstances,” said Tebbenkamp. “That flexibility has always been important, because what works in New York or California doesn’t necessarily make sense in Missouri or Kansas. When Congress ties state and local government grant money to adopting the unamended code, local officials don’t have a choice in order to receive those funds. That’s exactly what we saw play out in Kansas City.”

When the Inflation Reduction Act passed during the Biden administration, Section 50131 allocated $1 billion to incentivize state and local governments to adopt the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019, which would force them into a single, costly edition of the code.

“When the code took effect in October 2023, home building in Kansas City nearly stopped,” said Tebbenkamp. “For over three months, the city didn’t issue one new single-family permit under the new code. Before that, the average was 66 permits a month. The number of builders active in the city dropped from 98 in 2023 to just 22 in 2024 — that’s a 78% decline.”

Illustrating real-life impacts of the 2021 IECC, Tebbenkamp added that when his firm did a basement finish job for a Kansas City home owner, the particular home already had a HERS rating of 62, saving the owners more than $2,500 a year compared to an average home. But to comply with the new 2021 IECC, the family had to spend another $10,300 to achieve a single-point improvement on their HERS score, which translates to just $2 a year in additional savings.

“That doesn’t add up for the families I serve, and I know it doesn’t add up for yours either,” Tebbenkamp told lawmakers.

He urged Congress to pass the Home Owner Energy Freedom Act, legislation introduced by Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Texas) that would repeal Section 50131 of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“This program (Section 50131) has distorted local decision-making — driving up costs and reducing housing production, all while delivering little in the way of actual energy savings,” said Tebbenkamp. “At the end of the day, we all want homes that are safe, strong, and efficient. But federal policy ought to help us build more homes, not fewer.”

NAHB also testified before Congress on this issue earlier this month.