City staff outline changes to Santa Fe residential green building code, including tighter energy and water targets

Santa Fe city staff and consultants presented proposed updates to the city’s residential green building code at the Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 16, 2025, saying the rewrite would raise energy- and water-efficiency standards, add multifamily requirements, and simplify permit documents.

The presentation, led by Tom Graham, assistant director who manages the building division, and consultant Steve Onstead of Evergreen Building Solutions, described a reorganization of the existing code (currently located in the city’s Chapter 7 green building sections) and several substantive changes. The city’s objectives, Graham said, are to align local rules with the state’s current building code requirements and to reduce redundancy across the code suite.

Onstead, who worked with local water expert Doug Bouchard and city staff, described the principal technical changes: a shift in the HERS energy target from a HERS index of 60 to 55, which he said represents roughly an 8% improvement; an…