HOW TO HOLD YOUR BLACK HILLS BUILDER ACCOUNTABLE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Regarding rampant greenwashing by home builders, South Dakota's 2009 Senate Bill 64 requires: (1) builders to "disclose to the ...prospective buyer ... the energy efficiency of the residential building," and (2) adopts the International Energy Conservation Code as our standard.

The 'teeth' in the bill is a State-required form you should request from your builder: "Builder's Energy Efficiency Disclosure Statement." The form asks the builder quite simply, "Has this new residential building been built ...to meet the energy efficiency standards of the IECC". This South Dakota Legislature-mandated form then goes on to ask the builder to fill in R-values of various structural components, and whether Energy Star heating and cooling systems are included in your purchase.

A major (and I do mean major) weakness of the form is that is has no place for the builder to affirm by signature that he, in fact, was the one who made the claims on the form. When you request this from from your builder, have him sign it, date it, then you sign and date it and give a copy to your builder. Then, you should attach the form to the Purchase Agreement and refer to the form by date within the comments section of the Agreement.

In case you're not familiar with the International Energy Conservation Code of 2006, it is the current de facto standard world wide, and established by the International Code Council. Given my own prior career as a solar energy research professor, I am generally familiar with the IECC/2006 standard. The IECC code prescribes features and performance of building materials, systems and equipment, customized to the specific Climate Zone in which you reside. If you have any questions about the code you can email me at Lee@HillsWatch.com.

It is interesting that in a recent conversation I had with a number of fellow Black Hills realtors, they had recently completed new-construction purchases and not one builder had provided the form that was mandated by the South Dakota Legislature. Coincidentally, I see no indication in SB64 just what would be the penalties if a builder failed to provide the form, or provided incorrect information ("greenwashing") on the form.

Have you bought a home in South Dakota and not received this form, or incorrect information? Please comment below.