HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0766.002 2008-2010Yoshimoto, J
From: Ralph Boyea [rcb946@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:18 AM
To: jyoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: New building standards
Aloha Councilman.
Hope all is well with you.
Thank you.
Feel free to call me if you have questions or concerns.
Ralph Boyea 982 -9434 home, 937 -3138 cell
3/29/2010
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Just want to provide you with some information regarding the proposed changes to the building code.
I understand the position that making buildings energy efficient will save money in the long run by reducing
heating and cooling costs. I believe that would be true for people who heat or cool their buildings.
However, there are MANY of us who do not heat or cool our buildings. I started building my single wall
residence in 1976. I do not have any insulation, I do not have tinted windows, 1 do have jalousies, that are
open [to screened windows] most of the time. I have never used any heating or cooling devices in my
home. With one possible exception, we did install an air circulating ceiling fan. It does provide some
cooling when the trade winds aren't blowing. We designed our home to take advantage of the trade winds
and that design has worked remarkably well for over 30 years.
Being required to install insulation or tinted windows, or having restrictions on opened screen windows
would have significantly added to the cost of construction for my home. That expense would not have been
recouped by lower energy costs, because I do not have any heating or cooling expenses.
1 know many other people who live in your District who have uninsulated, single wall homes. Most of these
people do not have heating or cooling systems. A few of them have fireplaces and some have ceiling fans. 1
don't believe the fireplaces or ceiling fans add significantly to energy costs.
In addition to my being concerned about unnesserary cost for future construction, I am also concerned about
the possible ramifications of this measure upon the possible future sale of my home. Will I have to retrofit to
meet the new requirements before I can sell my home?
Perhaps these requirements can be limited to buildings that are designed to include air conditioning or
heating systems. They could also be applied to buildings, built after the code changes, that are later
retrofitted to add air conditioning or heating systems. I understand that these changes would open the door
for possible abuse but I believe that is a necessary trade off to avoid the unnecessary costs of the proposed
energy efficience standards for people who will not be heating /cooling their buildings.
Please support changes to this measure. Changes that will continue to allow single wall construction,
without insulation; non- tinted windows; and open screened windows. Please make the proposed changes
contigent upon the installation of heating or cooling systems.
Comm. Ho. l C0G. 2-
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