Bell answers question about home energy use law

Q: I think many of your readers would like to know what happened with that home energy use issue that generated so much attention during the Legislature. Can you give us an update on what the law now requires?

--Kolleen K., Las Vegas

A: As you suggested, this was a fairly hot topic during the Nevada Legislature, which passed a bill known as AB432 just before it concluded its session in June. For whatever reason, many legislative issues seem to get more attention and publicity while they're being debated than when they're actually decided.

Effective July 1, when all provisions of this new law took effect, Nevada no longer requires anyone involved in the sale of a home in our state to sign any form documenting how much energy a home uses.

That's because the Legislature passed AB432, which was signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval on June 13. It regulates the practice of energy auditors in Nevada and repeals some legislation that was approved in 2007.

According to a recent news release issued jointly by the Nevada Association of Realtors and the Nevada Building Performance Professionals, this new law came together after these two industry groups worked with two key members of the state Assembly and others to hammer out a compromise addressing what had been a fairly contentious issue.

This partnership led to a new state law designed to promote more energy-efficient homes -- without creating confusion and undue burdens for local homeowners, buyers, sellers and real estate agents.

Nevada Realtors and building performance professionals said this law requires energy auditors to be licensed and repeals a requirement that home sellers complete a short-lived energy consumption form that many homeowners found to be confusing.

In their news release, NVAR President Mike Young and NBPP co-founder Alison Haugh agreed that homeowners will benefit from the new law introduced by Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, and Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson, D-Reno.

The 2007 law had been the subject of intense debate between the two groups. While agreeing they wanted to promote energy efficiency, the NVAR and NBPP initially disagreed on energy consumption standards and regulations.

The 2007 legislation required the Nevada Energy Commissioner to adopt a regulation before January 2011 creating a standard for energy consumption for single-family residences. Under the resulting regulation, the seller or a certified home inspector could fill out a form detailing the energy efficiency of the home. The regulation also allowed buyers and sellers to waive this requirement.

After agreeing the old regulation was not working well, NVAR and NBPP leaders began meeting in January. They worked closely with Kirkpatrick and Benitez-Thompson to draft legislation to protect consumers, while legitimizing and regulating the energy auditing business in Nevada.

They agreed to have an energy audit option included in the purchase agreement for residential properties. They also agreed to include fields for energy audits and energy-efficient features listed in the Multiple Listing Services throughout the state. And they agreed to work together to educate Realtors statewide about energy audits and retrofits.

I can tell you these things are already in the works. While some details still need to be addressed, Haugh and Young said the new law and the partnership that sparked it will continue promoting energy-efficient homes.

Paul Bell is the president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors and has worked in the real estate industry for 30 years. To ask him a question, e- mail him at ask@glvar.org. For more information, visit lasvegasrealtor.com.