SBCC hears hours of testimony in Spokane; final adoption set for Sept. 25, 2026

The State Building Code Council’s public hearing on Aug. 7 in Spokane drew a wide range of stakeholders — trade associations, unions, contractors, builders, utilities, public-health and climate groups, technical consultants, and legislators — who delivered oral testimony on the 2024 Washington State Energy Code proposals.

Chair Todd Berthor opened the hearing and described the packages under review for WAC 51-11-C (commercial) and WAC 51-11-R (residential), noting the council received 63 commercial proposals (TAG recommended 53) and 32 residential proposals (TAG recommended 25). Testimony addressed multiple topics, including single-width CMU mass-wall exemptions, on-site renewable requirements and exceptions, credit-table values and ERI modeling, heat-pump replacement and electric-readiness mandates, and concerns about the CR102 packet and public-notice process.

The hearing record includes numerous written comments and oral testimony. The council closed the Spokane hearing at 5:00 p.m. and stated that a final adoption decision is scheduled for Sept. 25, 2026. All oral and written comments are part of the official rulemaking record.