Valencia County, NM Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

Unincorporated Valencia County does not print a standalone green-building chapter. The county's closest local equivalent is the energy-efficiency requirement built into § 150.02's adoption table: the 2009 New Mexico Energy Conservation Code, which adopts and amends the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code under 14.7.6 NMAC. That code sets the insulation, window, HVAC-efficiency, and building-envelope standards new construction must meet, and the county's table lists it with the same July 1, 2011 effective date as the rest of the adopted building-code package, which also includes the 2009 New Mexico Existing Building Code (14.7.7 NMAC), the 2009 New Mexico Earthen Materials Building Code (14.7.4 NMAC), and the 2009 New Mexico Non-Load Bearing Baled Straw Construction Building Code (14.7.5 NMAC), an alternative standard for straw-bale construction that functions as the county's other low-impact building option.

Section 150.03 applied the same 2011 changeover rule to the energy code as to the other trade codes: submittals could use either the 2006 or 2009 model-year codes, not a mix, through June 30, 2011, with only the 2009 codes accepted after July 1, 2011. Because the adoption table has been amended twice since 2004 (in 2008 and 2011), a permit applicant should confirm with the county which energy-code edition currently governs before designing to a specific standard; the ordinance text does not automatically update when the state revises 14.7.6 NMAC.