Oregon wildfire rebuild results in energy efficient homes
On Sept. 8, 2020, the Almeda Fire in Oregon burned approximately 3,000 acres and damaged more than 3,000 structures; over 2,500 of those were residences. Once the rebuild began, the Oregon Department of Energy encouraged residents to rebuild their homes to not only adhere to the modern 2021 building codes, but to prioritize energy efficiency.
The Oregon Department of Energy estimates that an average new home built to the state’s 2021 residential code is 30% to 35% more energy efficient than a similar home built to the 2008 code. A large number of developers, builders and homeowners ended up prioritizing both wildfire resilience and energy efficiency. Five years after the disaster, many of the new homes in the Almeda Fire footprint are among the most energy efficient in the country.
“We allowed people to build to energy-efficiency standards in the past, but we also put on the table incentives to encourage them to build to contemporary standards,” says state Rep. Pam Marsh.
