Code? What Code?

So, when (not if) we get to the point where all of our favorite best practices become code, what happens to all the current energy programs that now survive on voluntary clients? Energy Star / LEED / EarthCraft, etc. are all proscriptive processes that a builder/homeowner pays to participate in. Code is the law. There is not a choice, big ol' building inspectors show up and you either pass or fail. By 2014 I hear that typical Energy Star standards will be in the building code and inspected. Where does that leave Energy Star and it's battalion of HERS raters and QA / Providers?

The current bottleneck caused by the lack of qualified home energy raters is a community college gold rush, much like the wave of home inspectors created by the state mandated inspections a couple of years back. Of course they are all sitting on their hands at the moment because no body is building much of anything right now. Just ask the permit guys how busy they are. So what will happen to all these soon to be newly minted HERS raters? It is still great training but are we destined to become the code inspectors of the future? Certainly the new construction will go that way. One big question is how to put a fair efficiency rating number on existing homes? What kind of point-of-sale rating will appear on MLS? Seems like more and more real estate agents are waking up to the idea that home buyers are looking at energy efficiency ahead of the beloved granite counter top and fresh daisies in the window box. I hope that there will be a mandate to rate and upgrade existing homes to some energy standard at point of sale. How about a cash for clunkers program for the existing home inventory?