March 31, 2025 by John Borger, Hingham Net Zero
On Monday, April 28th Town Meeting will vote on a warrant article proposing that the Town adopt the state’s most recent building energy code, the Opt-In Specialized Code. Recent posts have presented the basic provisions of the Code, the case for adopting it and why it won’t impact the Town’s economic development initiative.
This post explains why we need not worry that the new Code will add significant costs to new single family homes in Hingham.
Each new house constructed in Hingham is an opportunity to build for the future. The ratcheting effect of gradually tightening standards for the building envelope through many years of updates means our current building code already ensures new houses that surpass the energy efficiency of just a few decades ago by as much as 58%. So why do we need the Specialized Code? Because new houses compliant with our current code, if equipped with fossil fuel heating systems, still generate unacceptable levels of carbon emissions.
The latest data available from the Tax Assessor’s office shows that, of the 48 new homes built in Hingham in 2022 and 2023, 47 were equipped with oil or gas heating systems. Failing to alter this trend burdens the Town with hundreds more homes we will have to wean off fossil fuels in the next 15 years.
Heating systems generate almost 70% of Hingham’s carbon emissions. We already have a large inventory of existing homes we need to transition from oil and gas to electric heat pumps in order to meet the Town’s goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Why dig the hole deeper?
Markets are imperfect and we often see a lag in new product uptake. This is what is happening with heat pumps. Thanks to big improvements over the last two decades, cold climate heat pumps efficiently handle the lowest temperatures we encounter in Massachusetts, plus the same device provides air conditioning. But it’s easier to stay with familiar technology, rather than move to updated solutions, especially for smaller companies with a fossil fuel-based business model.
Over the last two years, more heat pumps have been sold nationwide than gas furnaces. We need to give our local housing industry a nudge and that’s what the Specialized Code does – it encourages builders to use the easy, all-electric compliance path. Heat pump equipped, all- electric homes comply with the Specialized Code with no further requirements.
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has published studies showing that all-electric houses have lower overall costs than mixed fuel homes. In Hingham, this favorable cost comparison is greatly magnified by HMLP’s current, discounted residential rate per kWh of around 17.7 cents – 43% lower than the average rate of 31.2 cents in Massachusetts (Source: US Energy Information Agency). Shouldn’t Hingham homeowners benefit from this advantage, with better indoor air quality?
Builders nonetheless choosing the mixed fuel pathway must provide homeowners with a low cost, convenient option for future electrification, in the form of inexpensive pre-wired circuits for heat pumps, induction stoves and electric dryers. If the site allows, they must also include a modest 4 kW solar array. For Hingham’s average-sized home of around 3,100 square feet, these two requirements typically entail less than $6,000 in additional net building cost, which solar panels repay in 3-7 years, with free electricity worth tens of thousands for decades thereafter. For customers paying seven figures for new houses, these are small investments with big returns.
For larger homes over 4,000 square feet, the Specialized Code requires that energy efficiency and solar generation produce a “net zero” house which generates as much energy as it consumes. The price and projected benefits for these new homes bring this readily attainable net zero standard into perspective. E.g., a 5,000 square foot house in the Patterson Ponds Estates development was recently advertised for almost $3 million. The net zero standard would require something on the order of a 16 kW solar array, which (at $3.08 per watt) would cost about $49,200. The net cost after rebates and tax credits of $29,250 equates to 1% of the purchase price and is quickly recouped. The result is a home with almost zero annual energy costs, with savings approaching $250,000 over 25 years.
The Specialized Code will actually enhance the relative affordability of new homes in Hingham and will result in better houses for consumers. Vote YES on the Specialized Code warrant article!
– John Borger
Hingham Net Zero
Energy Action Committee
