Jon Chandler

The information above and the following is the report OHBA gave at the NAHB meetings at the International Builders’ Show in January.

Here’s how Oregon’s building permit activity is shaping up through November of 2017. As you can see, we’re making progress year over year, but we’re still lagging far behind what is needed

to obtain equilibrium between supply and demand – we should be building around 25,000 statewide to keep up with a normal market, and with nearly a decade of underbuilding, that makes our annual target number closer to 30,000 units. That’s the bad news. The good news is that increasing housing production of all types, not just “affordable housing”, is now towards the top of the policy agenda in Oregon so we are optimistic that we’ll be

Oregon Update Volume XVIIII, Issue February 2018

US Census Data - Building Permits For Oregon MSAs

Oregon Bend Corvallis Eugene Medford Portland Salem

Total SF Total SF Total SF Total SF Total SF Total SF Total SF

Jan-17 1464 685 118 116 6 6 53 53 33 33 1401 526 29 27

Feb-17 1114 765 119 119 8 8 46 46 41 29 1161 569 53 27

Mar-17 1541 960 343 207 9 9 72 68 61 55 1129 598 57 40

Apr-17 1071 894 143 139 16 14 51 51 72 55 874 580 97 48

May-17 1798 1024 160 148 12 5 80 78 62 62 1693 669 57 43

Jun-17 1873 915 168 154 5 5 73 73 43 41 1535 560 68 47

Jul-17 1800 850 149 149 3 3 66 66 66 64 1302 539 289 27

Aug-17 2692 942 144 138 2 2 74 70 65 37 2254 677 108 60

Sep-17 1670 729 176 154 1 1 46 46 43 39 1432 495 92 44

Oct-17 1643 819 213 167 4 4 62 55 53 53 1212 505 190 46

Nov-17 1701 757 198 151 2 2 62 59 40 40 1534 581 58 34

YTD-17 18367 9340 1931 1642 68 59 685 665 579 508 15528 6299 1098 443

Total-16 19586 11006 2274 1817 195 149 1174 736 912 727 14729 7397 1478 814

Total-15 17510 10255 2227 1550 142 138 721 578 717 604 13697 7102 1297 807

Total-14 16645 8573 1330 1274 451 119 1316 506 747 590 12356 5462 944 712

Total-13 14969 8850 1317 1204 256 86 939 478 645 556 11512 5640 832 534

Total-12 10608 6342 727 667 348 51 740 349 482 342 7277 4203 546 290

Total-11 7663 4854 457 455 328 30 716 384 361 253 5190 3133 360 248

Total -05 31024 23840 4460 3893 388 220 2261 1492 2036 1707 17175 12728 1671 1384

Howard Asch

Changes for Ceiling Heights

Requirements in the 2017 residential code for ceiling heights have changed. There is now more flexibility allowed that will may make it easier to comply with the energy code.

While ceilings in living and sleeping areas and hallways must still be 7’ high, bathrooms, toilet rooms and laundry rooms are now allowed ceiling heights of 6’-8”. Beams and girders which are a least 4’ apart are allowed to project as much as 6” below the required ceiling height.

A bathroom is permitted to have a ceiling that slopes over a fixture when at least 6’-4” of clearance is provided in a 21” by 24” space where one would stand to use a toilet or lavatory and a space of 24” by 30” at the tub or shower where one would stand when using a shower.

Basement ceilings can be a minimum of 6’-8” high when they do not contain habitable space (rooms used for living or sleeping.) Beams, girders, ductwork and other obstructions are allowed to be within 6’-4” from the floor.

An existing nonhabitable space such as an attic or basement converted to a habitable space may have a ceiling height of 6’-8”.

Clearly this allows more existing spaces to be remodeled. It allows bathrooms to be tucked into areas with a sloping ceiling to allow more efficient use of space. Lower ceiling in bathrooms and utility rooms will also allow additional spaces where ductwork can be run when using energy code options 5 or B, keeping ductwork within the conditioned space.

able to see some dramatic improvements to our land use system, local permitting processes and environ-mental regulations to the extent that those are in the way of housing production. In the 2017 legislative session, we were successful in getting a very pro-active housing bill passed and we are continuing to work with the House Speaker and others on a package of bills in the 2018 and 2019 sessions that will make it easier for us to build what the lying bastids in the cities and counties have provided for in their zoning and development codes. It should be great fun.

Howard Asch

Option 6 Simplified

The new residential energy code has an entirely new options table. That means you need to review each option to evaluate which is the most practical for you. The first five choices specify specific practices or combination of practices that reduce energy use by about 8%. Option 6 allows one to use any combination of building envelope materials or methods as long as it produces the same 8% increase in efficiency. You get to design your own option.

Some have been reluctant to choose this option because it requires some calculation. That is no longer the case: Building Codes Division has a tool on their website that makes the option much easier to use. This tool will do all the multiplication and division for you and even has many types of construction loaded onto pull-down menus to make finding the U-factor of your proposed method even easier.

The tool is an Excel spreadsheet that only needs you to input the areas for each exterior building element and choose the kind of construction you wish to use from the pull-down menu. It will quickly tell you if you pass or fail, and by how much. This feature allows you to easily change a construction detail and instantly see the result, such as what would be gained by improving window U-factors from U-0.30 to U-0.28.

When you find the combination that shows compliance and works for you, print the spreadsheet and include it with your permit application.

Your HVAC contractor will find the results useful so they can properly size the heating and cooling equipment, perhaps allowing smaller equipment than might have otherwise been chosen.

Before choosing one of the other options one should check out this tool. There is a good chance it can save money and/or make compliance easier. Here is a link to the tool: 2017 ORSC Residential thermal performance calculator.

http://www.oregon.gov/bcd/codes-stand/Documents/res-overall-u-factor-calculator-17orsc.xlsxhttp://www.oregon.gov/bcd/codes-stand/Documents/res-overall-u-factor-calculator-17orsc.xlsx