Oregon Update

Volume XVII, Issue 11 November 2016 LEGISLATIVE OFFICES OHBA ENDORSEMENT In seats where an incumbent is on the ballot, our endorsement is based on their support for housing

Jon Chandler and housing related issues in the legislature; in open By the time you get this, your 2016 ballot will likely be seats, where we make an endorsement, we base it lying someplace on your desk or kitchen counter, on interviews or on the candidate’s track record in unless you’re one of those who figured out that the other offices. phone calls and emails to VOTE NOW will stop as soon SENATE as you turn in your ballot. Senate District 1 Jeff Kruse (R) For the rest of you, here’s the OHBA endorsements Senate District 2 Herman Baertschiger (R) for measures and candidates. If nothing is listed, that means we haven’t taken an official position. Senate District 3 Alan DeBoer (R) Senate District 5 (D) BALLOT MEASURES OHBA POSITION

Senate District 9 (R) Measure 97 (tax on Oregon sales) HELL NO Senate District 12 (R) This is one of the worst and most disingenuous Senate District 27 (R) measures we’ve ever seen – it will directly hit some of Senate District 29 (R) Oregon’s largest employers and will indirectly hit every Oregonian, with no guarantee that the money Senate District 30 Ted Ferrioli (R) will be spent where the measure says it will. OREGON HOUSE Measure 98 (vocational education) YES House District 2 (R) OHBA was one of the leaders in the effort to restore House District 3 Carl Wilson (R) funding for vocational education in Oregon middle and high schools; this measure will stabilize funding for House District 4 Duane Stark (R) these critical classes. House District 6 Sal Esquivel (R) House District 7 Cedric Hayden (R) FEDERAL OFFICES OHBA ENDORSEMENT House District 9 Caddy McKeown (D) US Senator Ron Wyden (D) House District 12 John Lively (D)

House District 15 Andy Olson (R) Second Congressional District Greg Walden (R) Congressman Walden was honored by NAHB and House District 17 Sherrie Sprenger (R) OHBA as a Defender of Housing! House District 18 Vic Gilliam (R)

Fifth Congressional District Kurt Schrader (D) House District 19 Jody Hack (R) Congressman Schrader was honored by NAHB and House District 20 Laura Morett (R) OHBA as a Defender of Housing! House District 21 (D) LEGISLATIVE OFFICES OHBA ENDORSEMENT House District 22 Patti Milne (R) Howard Asch House District 24 (R) House District 25 (R) The “Inside” Story One of the available energy code options is to put the ducts House District 28 Jeff Barker (D) and air handler inside the building thermal envelope. House District 30 Dan Mason (R) Choosing this option can be a simple way to comply with the code and save a lot of energy. House District 31 (D) Ducts leak. They leak both heat and air. If they are outside House District 32 Debbie Boone (D) the thermal envelope the heat is wasted. Not only that, a duct leak outside the building envelope can pressurize or House District 36 Jennifer Williamson (D) depressurize the house, depending on whether the leak is on House District 37 Julie Parrish (R) the return side or supply side, and that will create more infiltrating air that has to be conditioned. That can be big.1 House District 39 Bill Kennemer (R) But how do we get the ductwork inside without creating an House District 40 (D) industrial look or costing more than your kid’s education? It’s simple—we plan for it. Here are ways it can be done: House District 43 (D) Roof trusses can be ordered with a raised central open House District 44 (D) portion where ducts can be easily run.2 The ceiling will look House District 45 Barbara Smith-Warner (D) just like a regular ceiling because the space created takes up what would otherwise be attic area. The air handler is House District 48 Jeff Reardon (D) centrally located and ducts run to the various rooms through this space. Insulation covers it just as it would normally cover House District 51 Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R) the ceiling. It may add 5% to the cost of trusses plus extra to House District 52 Mark Johnson (R) install the lid inside the truss.

House District 53 Gene Whisnant (R) Another option is to drop the ceiling of a central hallway as a duct run. Drywall is installed on the bottom truss cord before House District 54 Knute Buehler (R) the ducts are installed, then the hall ceiling is lowered and covered with the rest of the house. This method costs a little House District 55 Mike McLane (R) extra for framing the drop ceiling and the extra layer of House District 57 Greg Smith (R) board. The resulting ceiling is typically 7 feet high, but hardly noticeable in a hallway. House District 58 Greg Barreto (R) A third option is to create soffits to run ducts through and House District 59 John Huffman (R) design them as an architectural feature. This takes more material and time to finish, but can be a nice feature on an House District 60 Cliff Bentz (R) upscale house.

One final note: many of you may be unenthused about The great thing about any of these methods is that it really the candidates at the top of your party’s ticket. Don’t doesn’t impact the design or features of the house and an blame you if so, but please don’t just not vote. Write existing plan can be easily adapted. Pairing ducts inside with in Bullwinkle for President, if you like, but vote on the a high efficiency heating system can be a cost-effective way 3 measures and candidates down the ballot. This is a to meet energy efficiency requirements. critical election in Oregon – not just because of the 1 Infiltration can increase up to 300 times because of duct horrid bad awful tax measure but also because there’s leakage according to the US Department of Energy. That can a chance to add some pro-housing, pro-economic cause a 10% to 20% increase in heating and cooling energy use, development voices in Salem. along with a 20% to 50% decrease in heating and cooling equipment efficiency. That is huge. 2 These are, amazingly enough, called plenum trusses. 3 You probably already choose the high efficiency heating system anyway, so relocating it from the garage to an interior space will add little cost.