It’s not often that there is good regulatory news out of Kansas City, but today there is.
Recently, the city council passed Ordinance No. 260144, repealing and replacing the city’s residential energy code provisions and loosening several of the most burdensome elements of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) implementation. Under the new ordinance, the code will allow lower insulation requirements, a more flexible performance compliance threshold (measured via Home Energy Rating System and Energy Rating Index scores), and the removal of mandatory duct leakage testing when ducts are within the building envelope.
These aren’t just technical tweaks. They speak to the central concern I raised in 2024: that rigid energy mandates can act as a hidden tax on housing supply, particularly at a time when the ability to build more homes quickly and affordably matters to families across the metro.
Dennis Shriver of Hearthside Homes told me the regulatory rollback could reduce new home costs by an average of $15,000.
The bill, sponsored by councilmember (and former Show-Me Institute intern) Nathan Willett, takes effect now that the deadline for Mayor Lucas’s veto has passed.
The original regulation should never have passed, of course, but it is no small victory that despite the damage done to housing construction in the interim, the council had the courage to reverse itself.
