Recently I received an email of anguish from a friend of mine who is in business creating small and mid-size storage / warehouse type buildings. His business is local. His problem: A new edict from above on NC State building codes. This building code was passed by the legislature in the State, but did not originate there. It was created by the Building Code Council and based on the International Code Council. Within this construct is something called the NCECC ( North Carolina Energy Conservation Code) that regulates energy conservation in new construction. This NCECC edict was funded by the Federal Department of Energy. (DOE) The book on this 2012 Building Code can be bought Here The first line of the description states: "The 2012 North Carolina Building Code is based on the 2009 International Building Code."
Can you tell where this is going? The mandates in this NC 2012 Building Code, according to my businessman friend, are draconian. One example he gave to me was the requirement for higher cost, higher temperature containment insulation for even the simplest buildings such as he creates for his customers. Why is that draconian? Because it causes costs of these buildings (using a pun) to go through the roof!! This prices out some of his customers. Either he eats the increase or the customer eats it. Both ways, this is bad for business viability. (stating the obvious) Could the marketplace decide this on its own? Yes. Could there be options? Yes. But nooooooo....the Code is a mandate. Building and Construction businesses will have no options. They are told what they must sell. Customers are told what they must buy.
Who is driving this mandate? Is this like GE lobbying congress to eliminate the incandescent light bulb in order to force sales of compact fluorescent light bulbs?? Yes, exactly.
Another example of this is the Smart Meter technology now being foisted upon the unsuspecting public. Duke Energy and other energy companies across the country are forcing people into Smart Meters using Federal money and the attached mandates that come with the money. The joke is on you. You see, the sales pitch is always about saving you money and saving the planet by less energy use. But the punch line is that the energy companies stand to rake in untold fortunes from the public by raising the consumer prices for their commodity, not to mention the TOU (Time Of Use) charges for using energy at "peak hours." This saves you no money, but makes one heck of a lot more money for the energy companies. Worse than this is the monitoring of your energy use in real time. Every time you open your refrigerator door, a message is sent to the energy company. Turn on your dryer? They know it. Are you saving the planet by allowing them to do this? Nah.
Energy codes are becoming a tsunami of mind boggling control over what you can and cannot do in both your business life and your personal life. All of this is driven by two types of zealots. First it is the environmentalist orgs. who, like Al Gore, are trying to make you believe that you have no right to purchase and use the energy you wish. They have huge buckets of lobby money. Second are the corporations who are queuing up to cash in on the environmental crisis peddling to the public...also, lobbying and using campaign war chests.
Hat tip: Consumer Reports
Aside, from California on Smart Meters:
PG&E's electric rates are the highest in California, much higher than non-profit utility companies.
PG&E's high rates keep stockholders like Barclay's Global and
JP Morgan Chase happy, with plenty left over to fund excessive executive
salaries and purchase political influence.
Since 2000, PG&E has spent your money on:
- Overpaid CEO: Peter Darbee has received $48,560,044 in salary, bonuses and stock options and pension benefits
- Political influence/lobbying: $69,240,759
- Dumb Smart Meters: $2.2 billion
- Deregulation bailout: $9 billion
- Fighting public power: $25 million in local elections � and PG&E has already spent $9 million of a projected $35 million to defeat public power statewide with Prop 16
Check out controverisal proposed changes to the Washington State energy code. Note change the outcome-based (consumption based) code proposals 12-E30 and 12-E31.
ReplyDeleteThis may be where our Federal government wants to head. Monitor businesses and homeowners to track their energy usage, and then penelize them if they use to much. It would force them to make energy efficiency improvements.
https://fortress.wa.gov/ga/apps/SBCC/Page.aspx?cid=1840
Thank you...anonymous above. I am certain monitoring by government is where this is all leading. Just like the national database for our health records, the feds will be monitoring our energy use at the micro level. Why else do you legislate and mandate the installation of energy monitoring equipment into every home and business? Greed of power knows no bounds.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the federal government has money to hand out, the local governments are going to grb it. Slowly but surely the UN is dictating what the developed countries must do. Onama agrees with this and is one more reason we must defeat him in November.
ReplyDeleteHope you and Jim are getting back to normal and that his mother is being well cared for. What a tough ordeal to go though.
Cheers!
Jim
Thanks, Jim....but how do we stop this federal hand out? Maybe that is a stupid question, but even though they have no money and borrow everything now...they are still handing it out like candy. Will it take the collapse of the country to get them to stop? Yes...we MUST defeat Obama, but this has been going on a long time. Very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteGratefully, Jim's mom is doing just great in her new surroundings. I am so happy about that! She is a peach. The rest of the situation is going to take months probably to get worked out. It's all very stupid and upsetting, but we will just get through it the best we can. Thanks for asking!