Description
Housing conditions play a significant role in preparing communities for the impacts of climate change and in protecting the health of individuals during severe weather events such as extreme heat. One of the primary tools for standardizing how new or existing buildings are designed, built, or altered is building codes. Developing codes that improve thermal comfort or increase heating and cooling efficiencies help ensure access to safer and more energy efficient buildings over time. Building codes can also help reduce the heat island effect by reducing overall thermal loading on buildings.
King County will convene subject matter experts through the Regional Code Collaboration to adapt the New Buildings Institute’s Heat Code Overlay to the County and to develop additional guidance as needed to integrate heat resilience into building and energy codes. After development of the model codes, the County will work with relevant partners to advocate for adoption of these codes at the Washington State Building Code Council. For codes not adopted at the state level, the County will work with local jurisdictions to integrate these requirements into local codes as well as incorporate them into initiatives such as financial incentives and building scorecards.