 Okay, we're back. We're live and this has to be code green But it's a combination of code green and Hawaii the state of clean energy because we have our host Howard Howard wig He's the host of code green, but he's it's more today. Why is it more Sharon? There's a reason that Sharon Moriwaki co-host Well the Hawaii energy policy forum awarded well Howard but that building state building code console and Howard as they chair of the investigative committee accepted the award on their behalf for energy efficiency, and they are the night 2017 Transformation Award winners, and we really wanted to congratulate Howard and and God Johnson Gore Johnson who's the chair of that those state building code console so the the award goes for their Actually updating a really old 2006 energy code which now is is not totally up to speed, but it is a 2016 version That is going to help us get to efficient housing and commercial buildings. No, Howard you want to take it away? Okay Well, we passed we went from being one of the worst in the nation in terms of energy codes to being among the first What's a bad energy code a bad energy code is one that has not updated new? Technologies technology is improving at rocket speed Government is waddling along at tortoise speed So we need to bring Merge new technology with government policy so what that what that means I think we really have to understand this what that means is the code requires The technology to be included in the plans of a building for example And if they're not in the technology the new technology as identified is not in the plan The plan won't be approved precise developer and builder can't build precisely the plan checker shoves it back To the applicant and says get up to date boy And so You know I just just a thought here that since the technology is moving fast The code has to be amended more than just once it has to be amended on a repetitive basis every three years Nationally the codes get amended every three years. Okay. All right, so we know what a bad code is now What's a good code good code is one that incorporates the latest and the greatest of? new Technologies which are much much much more efficient in every way shape or form and in many cases The cost has gone down cost has gone down. Yep, and yet There's arguments. There's controversies. Yep. It's not like you could walk in the Rose Garden here You may have people shooting at you that say no, I don't want you to amend the code I don't want to energy efficient code. Who are those people? Well, it used to be the building industry building industry said, oh, it's gonna cause so much The poor homeowner the first time homeowner with a little baby You know he used to be a stand-up, you know that and So I have hung around these people for so long that I think like a builder every time we look Had a new change. I have cost cost cost in mind Yeah, and I keep it way down and a component of the new code is called the tropical energy code We have a whole new climate zone nationally called the tropical zone and Hawaii's amendments are tailor-made for Hawaii's climate Meaning we can drive the cost of construction down in addition to driving the cost of energy way way way down Taylor to Hawaii's climate. What does that mean in practical effect? I mean an example of something would be in the tropical tropical version of the co as opposed to I don't know the Upstate New York version sure sure sure The mainland code I'll call it that Emphasizes and we'll stick to homes because homes are simpler Emphasizes tight tight tight If the windows must be tight that doors must be tight the walls must be tight the ceiling must be tight So that you get zero virtually zero air infiltration into the home Such that you have to carve out little pukas and purposely bring in just enough outside air so it will get stale yeah, and the Inside air deteriorates if you keep it stagnant to Yeah, the air conditioning just within the building It circulates the air within so that you can have poor quality very poor quality in it's called IAQ indoor air quality No, that's the mainland code Upstate New York What happens with the Hawaii code if we do the tropical version we require? 14% free vent area in relation to floor area so that if you have a thousand square feet of floor You must have 140 feet of free vent and that just doesn't mean window event sit say you've got a sliding window and it's Four feet square by four feet square you slide that window open you've only got four feet square of free vent area the And more than that. Yeah, and you have to optional though. I mean in other words the window is not open all the time Oh heavens to Betsy. No, but so you have to slide the window open or open the window before you get the hundred and forty Precisely yeah, so we have to have a lot of free vent area And we have to have it on this side of the house and that side of the house so you get through cross Free vent means cross-boundation. Yeah And that's beautiful takes advantage of the trade winds of the weather The builders want that Well the The production builders on the ever planes must centrally air-condition the homes Why? Because the lots are very very small So that you it diminishes the air circulation trade wind plus you have great proximity to the your neighbor and What happens if your neighbor has a newborn child? Crying all night domestic argument or a domestic argument or or a large TV You get to hear all about it unless you enclose yourself in okay and turn on the way it is with limited land Yeah, pretty precisely plus it's the hottest area of the island okay all three so we have to provide air-conditioning Yeah, but how does that change your tropical? Okay, that that's not tropical code Then you follow the mainland code and you build that home as tight as a thermos bottle and spot noise Yeah, but it gives the builder options to either go tropical or the mainland code So why wouldn't they want that if you have the smallest lot? I've seen on the other planes is one thousand eight hundred and fifty square feet, which is Yeah And most of the lots are three and a half four and a half thousand square feet very small So what I get is this is very complicated. No simple. Well, it took you 27 years to do it Yeah, well, I have a little experience in it I mean the point is you didn't get this award because it was easy Yeah So and furthermore, you know, I mean have to say you can disagree. I want you to disagree but no this is your award This is you It's really nobody but you you've been you've been clamoring and arguing and advocating for this for as long as I know you And this is a great success. It's like having a beautiful bar mitzvah I was at it. Well, never mind. That's a side story. Yeah Yeah How does it feel I feels very good This is literally as you said years in the making And it's going to result In the new homes being about 33 percent more efficient than the home. We're going to talk about that in the next segment Okay, how does the clean energy feel about it? I mean, you know, what why did you why did you pick him? You know, there are a number of other awards award nominations But it was because this had such big impact 30 savings as howard said energy efficiency And that is really the the best way for us to reduce our energy use and get closer to It sounds like there's something else here too. It's I mean it's advancing The initiative of clean energy and energy efficiency is the best part of clean energy. Actually, we'll talk about that later Um, but it's it's that we changed the paradigm We moved the needle here. He moved he moved the needle And so he's got to get credit if you want to encourage other people to likewise He's a model for us, right? I didn't have a bit of help just a wee bit of help But the other the other the third criterion is that this is just the starting point So we look to awardees to tell us what they're going to do next with this and how are they really getting the benefit And this had long legs It really can go forward if you get the counties to implement And so this is the next step and we want to know also how the awardee will do that and help them Pursue that so that in fact we get the full benefit of the work that's been done to date Well, I like to know how you achieved it. I mean because um, that's that's uh, of course we we have we have time to talk about those things and we will but How did you how did you achieve this? against, um, you know People who would resist people who would give you pushback in so many ways Did you plover them? Did you call them down to meetings? Did you write them letters and notes and do training? What did you do to change them? Yes? Yes to just about all of that. Yeah This is years into making both at the national level and the local level the the builders who Used to oppose this or is the building industry association? And they are an arm of the na hb national home builders association So one thing I did was attach myself to the na hb Because they were creating a beyond code code. They said here's the national code If we could improve efficiency by 10 percent, what would we do? I became an integral part of that committee nationally. I flew to washington dc many times and I Became working it on the national level in order to bring it back to hawaii and and gaining the respect in all modesty of the na hb staff Which translates into respect by the bia staff and I befriended bia people also And and I talked their language I I've been hanging around with them so long as I said I think like a building Well, I think I saw when the governor was signing the actual rules for this I think I saw glades maroni bia So I thought hmm. That's interesting. So you did get them to come along. Yeah, very good And so what did you learn in the process and you know and you had to educate yourself not over a week or a month or a year But years How did you do that? You had to become like an are you an engineer? By de facto engineer de facto honorary engineer my osmosis my osmosis Because I hang around with engineers like stuff. You said you became familiar with building. How did you do that? Read books read manuals. Yeah read specifications And you left out some Talk to a lot of people who know what they're talking about And you're familiar with every word in that book. Oh, yeah You know, does that change you? Is it made you a different person? It's made me. I know would make me a different person A de facto techie. Yeah I I talk I throw numbers all over the place and show concepts and I get the deer and the headlights look And oh god here. I am being a techie again or I'll start being enthusiastic especially, you know to a lay person And it'll be a cocktail party or something, you know Say, you know what the shgc of windows how they have improved and I'll start talking about how it works You keep the that's the way you gain respect. Yeah It lowers the volume of the cocktail party You know that it lets the visible light in while it reflects back the nir near infrared reflectance And it blocks out the uv I'll get all enthusiastic about this People will say I I see a friend I need to talk to I started it. How are you? Well, so one other thing is that you know when you you said before that hawaii The start of this project before the the new code was passed was behind Okay, is is it now in front? Is it even or is it in front? Are we a model for other places? Are they saying wow that guy Howard that code in hawaii? That's really good. Is that what they're saying? That's because I I have a lot of friends nationally and I Reviewed newsletters all the time on the subject and I I was just in Pittsburgh at a conference just a couple weeks ago And so I know what's going on nationally We were with that old jalapeno of a code I'd say in the bottom 15 states Now we have jumped up to being in the top 10 states There are some states that are really really progressive and some that are just in the next tier and we're in the next tier That's great. We moved ahead. I just want to know what so when we were in the jalapeno stage Did that mean that we were preventing? People who wanted to be progressive in their building or was that just a standard that you had to at least meet that and you could do Whatever precisely yeah, it's it's the code is the minimum Nothing wanted to do the minimum if they didn't have to do it value engineering so to say Yeah, it was my job to say this is an old jalapeno. Come on. You're not serving your clients Do something better and it doesn't cost more money or it costs that's the thing And after this this break, we're gonna we're gonna go into our next segment in a minute We're gonna talk about how much money you can save and what it all means and how it's going to change Building and housing in Hawaii. Wow. I'm excited. I can't wait. But for now, let's say goodbye Thanks, Howard. We'll be back in a minute. Thank you. Sharon. We'll be back in a minute This is stink tech. This is uh, this is code green and this is how it wig and Sharon We'll be right back and we'll introduce them properly next time