The state building code must set construction and energy standards, and the commissioner must consult on them and may exempt unreasonable thermal-efficiency requirements for particular buildings.
The state building code shall as far as practical: 1. Provide uniform standards and requirements for construction, construction materials, and equipment through the adoption by reference of applicable national codes where appropriate and providing exceptions when necessary. The rules adopted shall include provisions imposing requirements reasonably consistent with or identical to recognized and accepted standards contained in performance criteria. 2. Establish such standards and requirements in terms of performance objectives. 3. Establish as the test of acceptability, adequate performance for the intended use. 4. Permit the use of modern technical methods, devices, and improvements which tend to reduce the cost of construction without substantially affecting reasonable requirements for the health, safety, and welfare of the occupants or users of buildings and structures. 5. Encourage the standardization of construction practices, methods, equipment, material, and techniques. 6. Eliminate restrictive, obsolete, conflicting, and unnecessary regulations and requirements which tend to unnecessarily increase construction costs or retard unnecessarily the use of new materials, or provide unwarranted preferential treatment to types or classes of materials or products or methods of construction. 7. Limit the application of thermal efficiency standards for energy conservation to construction of buildings which are heated or cooled. Air exchange fans designed to provide ventilation shall not be considered a cooling system. The commissioner shall exempt any construction from any thermal efficiency standard for energy conservation if the commissioner determines that the standard is unreasonable as it would apply to a particular building or class of buildings. No standard adopted by the commissioner for energy conservation in construction shall be interpreted to require the replacement or modification of any existing equipment or feature solely to ensure compliance with requirements for energy conservation in construction. Lighting efficiency standards shall recognize variations in lighting intensities required for the various tasks performed within the building. The commissioner shall consult with the economic development authority regarding standards for energy conservation prior to the adoption of the standards. However, the standards shall be consistent with section 103A.8A. 8. Facilitate the development and use of renewable energy. [C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §103A.8; 81 Acts, ch 184, §12] 85 Acts, ch 147, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1134, §22; 90 Acts, ch 1267, §26; 2002 Acts, ch 1162, §33; 2008 Acts, ch 1126, §6, 33; 2009 Acts, ch 108, §6, 41; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §50, 89