Chief District Judge Martha Vazquez of United States District Court for the District of New Mexico issued an order back on Friday granting a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs in AHRI et al. v. City of Albuquerque. The injunction bars the enforcement of the city’s Energy Conservation Code, which the plaintiffs claim is preempted by federal regulation, pending the outcome of the lawsuit. I thought a portion of Vazquez’ 24-page written opinion was particularly interesting in light of much of our commentary on state- and local-level green building legislation here at gbNYC. “The city’s goals [in enacting the disputed code] are laudable,” Vazaquez wrote, “[u]nfortunately, the drafters of the code were unaware of the long-standing federal statutes governing the energy efficiency of certain HVAC and water heating products.”
October 8th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "New Mexico"
Industry Groups Launch Legal Challenge to Albuquerque Green Building Codes
Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Energy Conservation Codes were signed into law back in January, but their implementation was delayed until July 1 after industry groups voiced concerns during the spring that the Codes were, among other things, preempted by federal law. The Codes purported to raise the standards on the installation of HVAC equipment for all new and retrofit commercial and residential projects to a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ration (”SEER”) of 15 (for air conditioning) and an annual fuel utilization efficiency (”AFUE”) of 90 percent (for heating). The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico by, among other plaintiffs, Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute.
July 15th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued