Sudbury committee hears case for opting into specialized stretch energy code, asks for cost and historic-building clarifications

Rami Alwan, chair of Sudbury—s Energy and Sustainability Committee, briefed the Finance Committee on Article 27, the proposal to adopt the Department of Energy Resources— specialized stretch energy code, at the March 31 meeting.

Alwan said the specialized code is the newest state energy standard and that communities often adopt it before it becomes state law because adoption can make them eligible for additional grant funding. "This is the newest, energy code," Alwan said. "Typically, what has our experience has been is that it will eventually become the state code. We've been able to take advantage of jumping in early, which has given us opportunities to write grants." He added the code—s practical difference for Sudbury is narrow: it affects new single-family homes only above certain sizes and requires either full-electric construction or solar offset for mixed-fuel homes larger than 4,000 square feet.

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