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DAVID CUTLER editor-publisher

Editoriat

They're at it again

S if the federal government hadn't done more than its share to bedevil the housing industry and all connected with it, they are now springing forth with yet another one of their impractical grand schemes. Lee Briees. the current president of the National Lufrber & Buildine Material Dealers Association, says "It'li make OSHA look like a Fourth of July picnic."

We speak of the feds' proposed Building Energy Performance Standards. It is usually called BEPS and, unfortunately, you are likely to hear a good deal more about it. It is not expected to go away.

BEPS is one of those good ideas that the federal government embraces not wisely, but too wefl. We don't dispute the wisdom of buildings being energy efficient. But, once again, the Department of Energy is rushing in too fast, with a plan that responsible critics rightly call too complex, unenforceable and unfair.

For example, in making its response to DOE's proposed rule, the National Forest Products Association was forced to create an analysis of nearly 2000 pages of DOE technical Support documents and 4l computer runs of DOE's Standard Evaluation Technique Computer Program. Once again, the federal government is trying to use a flood of paperwork and questionable technical hypothesis to jam down the throat of industry a standard that is ill conceived and untested.

DOE seems to show no appreciation of the fact that in the last three years, market pressures have already been doing much of what thev want done.

Few in industry quibble with the basic idea of standards to ensure that buildings are energy efficient. Yet we know of no group connected with building that isn't opposed to the standards as currently formulated. NFPA says the rule in its present form is "incapable of being uniformly applied or enforced and containl numerous, unj:ustified i nequities. "

No wonder they call it Disneyland East.

PRESS C0llFEREl{Ct by local media f eatured convention oarticipants. From left lll Dean Drake, Lee Briggs, Frank Davis.0lf camera: "Mickey" Whiting. [2] John Turner, John Gaskin, Marty Wist. l3l Burl Schweikart, Bob Ramsey. [4] Hank Smith, Clif f Moore. 15l John Shipley, Bob Ryan. 16l

Sfory at a Glance

Another attendance record. . . planning for the '8Os. . inventory manage-ment...timber supplyproblems...alternate energy sources... Larry Hamman new pres... next year: Phoenix, May 7-9.

Ken Lott, Sherry Gaylor, Emil Romero. [71 Jim Parsons, Connor Butler. 18l Sam Hauert, Charles Roberts, Al Schechter. [91 0ave Newberger, Paul Conley, Dino Powell, Pat Simone. Il0] Virginia Smith, Jim Stewart, Bill Brines. (lll Bill Corley, Roger 0lson. ll2l Lee Sedler, Larry Powers, Ed

Smith. ll3l Karen and Bob Hobbs, Tom Alden. ll4l Len Schmitt, Bick Peetz (l5l Fred McDonald,0ale Grabe, Dave Runyon, Don McDonald. Il6l Larry Kirby, John King. llTl Bill Velthoven, Bruce Cobb.