The Expert Podcast

As a general contractor you probably have some cost basis calculations that you use for bidding on a project or coming up with a price for a home build you may want to dust off some of those calculations and make some adjustments in addition to the normal everyday inflation that we've seen in the last year to year and a half in addition to the lumber price volatility for the last 18 to 24 months in addition to labor costs going up because of difficulty finding good help good workers either as a direct employee or trades you know hvac plumbing electrical that kind of thing what you're looking at is there are some components of building a house some significant components that may have some additional legislative pressure put on them.
Now this article has some political components to it i get it so forget about the political side whether you agree or disagree it's not the point of this video is there are some overlooked pressures being put on certain components of home construction that may change pricing.
This is an article regarding a proposed regulation put forth by the energy department the energy secretary of the united states planning to target home hvacs for a price hike the intention of this person or this government agency is to get homes off of fossil fuels just like they're trying to get gas engines off the road and replace everything with electric vehicles they're also wanting to remove gas appliances or use of fossil fuels from the home energy grid one of the ways you've seen that is there are some states and cities and counties that are banning the installation of gas ranges in new construction you can't put a gas stove in a house only electric.

There's also this overlooked not really publicized proposal to take hvac and heating systems and change the way that they're purchased this is not just about transportation it's about homes and making sure we wean ourselves off fossil fuels what they're trying to do is take natural gas and take that out of the equation and make these things unaffordable what they're wanting to do is take anything in a home that uses oil and gas either to make it or to run it and remove it from the simple or easy or cheap process of building a home and that goes from gas appliances but even in efficient appliances.

There are also measures to target heating and cooling construction design layout components that are not meeting certain standards and make them either excessively expensive or just flat out banned there are some state governments that are making leak tests required for house air infiltration tests required and if the design of the house doesn't meet those standards it doesn't pass it doesn't pass code.

So as you're looking ahead this may not be in your neck of the woods right this second but if you're looking ahead two three years down the road plan for the roll out and infiltration of these rules into your building and design requirements plan for it from a labor standpoint from a cost standpoint on materials and also what's available for use in home if you are used to building houses with gas-fired heat may not be able to do that you might have to to you know learn a new trick on how to build houses.

So keep an eye on these other political or legislative efforts that are going into not just cars but also into homes and if you stay ahead of the curve even if you don't agree with what the rules are if you're aware of them and you're planning for an advance you won't be caught flat-footed when all of a sudden you can't build using materials or construction procedures the way you've done before and if you're a homeowner or bill or a client of a builder be aware of these as well so you'll know how to build something that not only will work today but also will be compatible with what's available in the future.