Ask a Professional - January 2007

I need to renovate my kitchen and I also need more space for dining and entertaining. I know what I want and I have a hand drawing, but I’ve been told about some new energy codes I’ll now have to comply with. How does that affect me?

It’s a fact that California has the most stringent energy codes in the country called Title 24. These energy codes have not been significantly updated since 1992 about 13 years ago and since energy is in limited supply vs. demand because of more labor saving appliances especially in the kitchen, new codes were implemented in 2005. So, why are there so many new codes? Stricter energy standards help avoid rolling blackouts, reduce peak demand and avoid the need to build new generating plants. The new energy codes that took effect as of Oct. 1, 2005 involve inside and outside lighting and as of Jan. 1, 2006  the codes extended from lighting to HVAC (from SEAR 11  to  SEAR 13) a very high efficiency rating. Next month we’ll discuss how this effects you personally.