Conference Session Materials:
Get Involved:
- Advanced Building Energy Efficiency Policies (ABEEP) Task Force – This Task Force is for communities considering the stretch codes, benchmarking, and building performance standards, or those that would like to learn more about the advanced policies. Municipal staff can join the email list to receive invitations for these meetings, which are held about three times a year. The ABEEP team helps prepare local governments to adopt these policies, provides technical assistance, and shares useful resources. Email cscott@mayorscaucus.org to join the Task Force.
- Survey – How is your community thinking about building energy policies? – Thank you for your input!
- Survey – Pilot plan review and inspection support program for municipalities adopting the stretch code – We appreciate your feedback!
- Midwest Building Codes & Policy Summit, presented by the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) – Oct. 14-15, 2026 held at 320 S. Canal St. (next to Union Station) in Chicago
- Stretch Building Code Adoption Support Grants – Round 4 is open through December 31, 2026.
Resources:
HOMEOWNER AFFORDABILITY
Supporting arguments – The benefits outweigh the cost.
A home built to the 2026 Illinois Stretch Energy Code can save a homeowner over $11,000 over a typical mortgage. These savings are from reduced utility bills and not needing to retrofit to install new energy-saving technologies, like electric vehicles, heat pumps, and more. Sources:
- 2026 Residential Stretch Energy Code Cost-Effectiveness Analysis – Energy Solutions
- 2026 Commercial Stretch Energy Code Cost-Effectiveness Analysis – Energy Solutions
Homeowners in energy-efficient homes are 32% less likely to default on their mortgages and experience lower maintenance costs, making these homes more affordable for buyers and less risky to mortgage lenders. Source:
- Home Energy Efficiency and Mortgage Risks – Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
Opposition
- Codes cost too much. – U.S. Department of Energy, Impacts of Residential Building Energy Codes
- Energy codes price people out of homes. – National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Households Being Priced Out of the Housing Market
COST OF CODES
No correlation between construction costs and home prices since the International Codes® were first published in 2000. Source:
- Building Costs and House Prices, June 2025 – National Bureau of Economic Research
Differences in housing prices and rents across markets are driven primarily by income growth, not regulatory variation. Source:
- Supply Constraints Do Not Explain House Price and Quantity Growth Across U.S. Cities, last revised August 2025 – National Bureau of Economic Research
Overall, the results do not support the claim that modern building code adoption systematically increases home prices or constrains new housing supply. Source:
- Do Housing Prices Change With Building Codes? June 2026 – University of Alabama
VALUE OF BUILDING CODES
- Mitigation Saves: Mitigation Saves Up to $13 Per $1 Invested – National Institute of Building Sciences
- Do Modern Building Codes Mitigate Mortgage Delinquency Following Landfalling Hurricanes? – Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety – This whitepaper found that modern building codes decreased the expected spike in post-hurricane mortgage delinquency rates by about 50%.
ENERGY CODES SAVE LIVES
- Energy Codes Are Life-Safety Codes – Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA)
- Enhancing Resilience in Buildings Through Energy Efficiency, July 2023 – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Energy
Return to the Advanced Building Energy Efficiency Policies (ABEEP) Task Force webpage.