Stretch Code Back on the Table

Needham Selectman Jerry Wasserman said Tuesday he would continue to study the Stretch Energy Code with the help of Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick, gathering a list of questions residents still have about the code and coming back to the board with answers at a later date.

At the , voters chose to send the issue of whether Needham should adopt the higher efficiency energy code back to selectmen for further review after just 30 minutes of discussion on Town Meeting floor. The article had garnered majority support from selectmen, the Planning Board, the Finance Committee and the Green Communities Study Committee after months of debate, but many .

The stretch code would require major renovations and new construction in town to be approximately 20 percent more energy efficient than under the state's current building code.

The issue has been tabled since the fall meeting but was brought up again at the selectmen's meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 10, as board members opened the annual Town Meeting warrant and began looking at which issues would come up in the spring.

“It seems to me that Town Meeting raised specific questions that led to the vote for the referral, and so therefore we need to find a way to quantify what those questions are and deal with those,” said Selectman Moe Handel, chairman, as he opened the discussion.

Wasserman, who had been a member of the and became a vocal supporter of the code, listed some of the questions he had heard during the debate and said he would be willing to work with the town manager to compile a complete list of questions and “from there try to get some answers that will be suitable for Town Meeting, then decide whether to go forward with this at [the spring] Town Meeting.”

Currently, the town manager has left a placeholder on the warrant for a stretch code article, though the item could be removed before the document is finalized.

Among the questions Wasserman mentioned: What happens if the state’s base code is upgraded or the stretch code is updated—which code would the town be required to follow; what are the actual costs to homeowners, especially regarding renovations; and will the state allow a community to exempt renovations made on smaller homes.

Selectman Dan Matthews said he also wanted to clarify the steps the town would need to take to comply with the other four requirements to become a Green Community and receive grant money under the Massachusetts Green Communities Act. If meeting these other guidelines would be difficult, would it be worth it to pass the Stretch Energy Code?

Matthews said he wasn’t sure the issue should be raised again at the spring meeting, saying it might be better for the town to wait to see how the code works in other communities that have already adopted it.

The board reached a consensus that Wasserman should take the lead on the issue and report back with a list of questions and answers.