HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US: AN ARGUMENT

AGAINST PL 180’S PREEMPTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CONTROL OVER GREEN BUILDING CODES IN INDIANA

HOPE RICE*

I. INTRODUCTION

“We shape our buildings; thereafter our buildings shape us.”
 – Winston Churchill1

As our climate changes, our building practices must also change.
Conventionally built infrastructure will deteriorate as natural disasters become
more prevalent and severe. Additionally, built environments contribute to the
worsening effects of climate change by generating over 40% of annual global
carbon dioxide emissions.2 Implementation of green building codes, which
consider durability and sustainability in the materials, design, and components of
construction, can lower the environmental impact from conventional buildings
while creating resilience and protection from the effects of climate change. 

In 2021, the Indiana General Assembly added Public Law 180 (PL 180) to
Indiana’s Home Rule statute, historically a statute which grants broad power for
self-government to local communities. Instead, PL 180 preempts local Indiana
governments at the state level, prohibiting them from requiring that their built
environments be constructed with any energy-saving or -producing designs,
components, or materials.3 Additionally, PL 180 reinforces Indiana’s dependence
on fossil fuel powered energy sources and delays our inevitable shift to renewable
energy production, causing higher utility bills for Hoosiers and maintaining
vulnerability to power outages. Rumored to be enacted for the benefit of gas and
construction companies, PL 180 unnecessarily takes power from local Indiana
governments to protect residents from the effects of climate change that are
forecasted to become severely destructive in our near future.4

* J.D. Candidate, 2024, IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law; B.A. Art History, 2017,

University of Cincinnati.

1. Churchill and the Commons Chamber, UK PARLIAMENT, https://www.parliament.

uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palacestructure/churchill/#:~:text=Churchill%

20insisted%20that%20the%20shape [https://perma.cc/ME7Z-JQCF] (last visited Mar. 1, 2023).

2. Why the Built Environment?, ARCHITECTURE 2030, https://architecture2030.org/why-the-

building-sector/ [https://perma.cc/XS4Q-26M5] (last visited Mar. 9, 2023).

3. IND. CODE § 36-1-3-13 (2021).

4. Enrique Saenz, New Law Restricts Local Government’s Ability to Address Climate

Change, IND. ENV’T REP. (May 5, 2021), https://www.indianaenvironmentalreporter.org/posts/new-

law-restricts-local-governments-ability-to-address-climate-change#:~:text=Public%

2 0 Law%20 18 0 %2 C%2 0as%20HB,b ased %2 0 o n %2 0 th e%2 0 en ergy%20 so u rce .

[https://perma.cc/7FS7-P5H2]; see also Indiana’s Past and Future Climate: A Report from the

Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment, PURDUE UNIV. 1 (Mar. 1, 2018), https://docs.lib.

purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=climatetr [https://perma.cc/PMN9-MYR4]. 



200 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

After the House of Commons Chamber was destroyed by bombing in World
War II, Winston Churchill advocated for the Chamber to be rebuilt in an
adversarial rectangular shape which encouraged debate between members of the
House and caused them to “seriously weigh their commitments” before they
crossed the floor.5 Churchill insisted that the shape of the Chamber should reflect
strength and trust in their democratic system.6 He believed that the Chamber was
more than just a structure; the Chamber symbolized human trust and resilience. 

Similarly, Hoosiers should be able to trust that their built environment can
provide durable shelter and protection in the face of severe storms, flooding, and
other natural disasters. Hoosiers should also be able to trust that the Indiana
General Assembly is acting in their best economic and environmental interest, not
the financial interest of gas and construction companies. While many local
Indiana governments have Climate Action Plans that will add more protections
for their residents in the face of climate change, PL 180 restricts local Indiana
governments from reaching their full potential to create trust and resilience in
their built environments and protect Hoosier’s physical, financial, and
environmental health.

This Note argues that PL 180 works against the historical purpose of building
codes to protect the public, causes Indiana communities to be more vulnerable to
the effects of climate change, and makes an empty promise of municipal self-
government through Indiana’s Home Rule statute. First, this Note provides a brief
historical background of American building codes and the current American trend
to embrace green buildings codes or prohibit them through state preemption.
Next, this Note discusses influence from utility and construction companies that
induced the passage of PL 180 as well as the economic benefits that PL 180
provides to the law’s primary author. This Note then analyzes PL 180 as a
burdensome policy to the economic and environmental health of Hoosiers and
Indiana communities and asserts that PL 180 works against the historical purpose
of Home Rule. Finally, this Note argues that the Indiana General Assembly must
repeal PL 180 or limit it through a sunset clause, and then considers a possible
challenge to PL 180 through the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Indiana
Constitution to restore constituent’s faith in our General Assembly’s commitment
to legislate on behalf of Hoosiers’ concerns and not those of gas and construction
companies.

5. Russel Smith, Winston Churchill on How Our Buildings Shape Us, RUSSELL’S

INSPIRATION DAYBOOK (Apr. 24, 2018), https://inspirationdaybook.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/

winston-churchill-on-how-our-buildings-shape-us/ [https://perma.cc/3E6E-KSU9]. See also

Churchill and the Commons Chamber, supra note 1.  

6. Mark Petock, More Than Structures? We are Creating Environments of Trust.,

AUTOMATED BLDG. (Aug. 2020), http://automatedbuildings.com/news/aug20/articles/lynxspring/

200721102909lynxspring.html [https://perma.cc/L7M9-CUF3]. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 201

II. BACKGROUND

A. What Makes a Building Code “Green”?

Building codes reflect society’s expectation that our built environment should
be safe for use and habitation.7 Building codes are laws that set minimum
requirements for the design and construction of structural systems, heating and
air conditioning, ventilation, electrical and natural gas systems, and other aspects
of commercial buildings and residences.8 

The first building codes appeared in the Code of Hammurabi.9 One code
stated that if a “builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it
properly, and the house falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put
to death.”10 In the United States, devastating events like natural disasters and
major fires influenced the adoption of building codes first by individual cities.11

After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Chicago City Council mandated the use
of fire-resistant building materials, like brick and terra cotta, and banned the use
of wood as a building material from the downtown Chicago area.12 The 1906 San
Francisco Earthquake caused legislators to consider seismic effects and
implement earthquake engineering design in building codes.13 New York City
mandated sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers in buildings after the 1911
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire took hundreds of workers’ lives.14 Building
codes evolved to protect the public after environmental disasters devastated built
environments and destroyed thousands of lives and vast amounts of property.

7. Elizabeth A. Cocke, Building Codes: The Role They Can Play, U.S. DEPT. OF HOUS. &

URB. DEV. (Feb. 20, 2018), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr-edge-frm-asst-sec-

022018.html [https://perma.cc/2AL8-8BTT].

8. Understanding Building Codes, NAT’L INST. OF STANDARDS & DEV. (June 16, 2022),

https://www.nist.gov/buildings-construction/understanding-building-codes [https://perma.cc/J49L-

D5BV].

9. Eugene J. Heady, Construction Law – The History is Ancient!, SMITH CURRIE,

https://www.smithcurrie.com/publications/common-sense-contract-law/construction-law-the-

history-is-ancient/pdf/#:~:text=Hammurabi's%20Code%20was%20one%20of,shall%20be%

20put%20to%20death [https://perma.cc/A7KV-WZNM] (last visited Feb. 25, 2023).

10. Id. 

11. Jim Rossberg & Roberto T. Leon, Evolution of Codes in the USA, NAT’L EARTHQUAKES

PREVENTION PROGRAM 2-3, https://www.nehrp.gov/pdf/UJNR_2013_Rossberg_Manuscript.pdf

[https://perma.cc/9DAP-DH29] (last visited Feb. 15, 2023). 

12. Blair Kamin, City Learned Lessons From its Catastrophes, CHI. TRIBUNE (Apr. 28,

1992), https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-04-28-9202070670-story.html

[https://perma.cc/DW8G-8RND].

13. Evolution of Codes, STAN. UNIV., https://quake06.stanford.edu/centennial/tour/stop10.

html [https://perma.cc/C79C-N2V7] (last visited Feb. 15, 2023). 

14. U.S. Census Bureau History: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

(Mar. 2016), https://www.census.gov/history/www/homepage_archive/2016/march_2016.html

[https://perma.cc/9M7Y-6WWK]. 



202 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

American state and local governments mostly control building codes.15 The
Federal Government does not set standards for state and local building codes,
except for manufactured homes.16 Many states adopt statewide building codes but
leave adoption of their code to the discretion of individual cities, counties, and
townships.17 Consequently, many large cities follow their own building code,
while rural areas of a state sometimes do not adopt any building codes.18  State
and local governments model their building codes from regional “model codes”
developed by two private organizations: the International Code Council and the
National Fire Protection Association.19 Building code development was
historically outsourced to private organizations because of the “fundamental
belief” that the private sector can produce better standards, more efficiently, than
the government.20

The private organizations that write conventional building codes do not
consider the environmental impact from construction or the built environment.21

Conversely, green building codes consider public safety from an additional
perspective: structural resiliency that protects inhabitants from the effects of
climate change.22 Green building refers to both the structure and construction
processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient in the
design, construction, operation, maintenance, and deconstruction of a building.23 

Green buildings improve upon conventional building materials’

15. Understanding Building Codes, supra note 8.

16. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets building standards

for manufactured housing which preempt state and local building codes. Manufactured homes are

built in a factory and transported in one or more sections to a plot of land. For more on HUD’s

Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, see Proposed Updates to the

Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, U.S. DEPT. OF HOUS. & URB. DEV.,

https://www.hud.gov/OMHP#:~:text=HUD's%20Manufactured%20Housing%20Program%20is,

and%20administration%20of%20dispute%20resolution [https://perma.cc/CGS6-C7QF] (last visited

Feb. 15, 2023).

17. Rossberg & Leon, supra note 11.

18. Id.

19. Cocke, supra note 7.

20. Rossberg & Leon, supra note 11.

21. Alexander C. Kaufman, Cities Voted for Green Building Codes. Now Developers Want

to End Voting., GRIST (Mar. 1, 2021), https://grist.org/politics/minneapolis-building-codes-industry-

backlash/ [https://perma.cc/2TQT-YZEV].

22. See Green Building Standards, U.S. ENV’T PROT. AGENCY,  https://www.epa.gov/

smartgrowth/green-building-standards#:~:text=Buildings%20(ASHRAE% 20189.1)-

,A%20model%20code%20that%20contains%20minimum%20requirements%20for%

20increasing%20the,and%20modular%20and%20mobile%20homes [https://perma.cc/LQJ8-

MTNE]; see also Green Building Codes, Standards, and Rating Systems, BLDG. WITH CHEMISTRY

https://www.buildingwithchemistry.org/building-future/green-building-codes-standards-rating-

systems/ [https://perma.cc/GK8P-LCQW] (last visited Feb. 1, 2023).

23. Green Building, Basic Information, U.S. ENV’T PROT. AGENCY (Feb. 20, 2016),

https://archive.epa.gov/greenbuilding/web/html/about.html [https://perma.cc/YUL7-S3Z9].



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 203

environmental impact by instead using sustainably manufactured materials.24

Green building materials are often made from reutilized materials like recycled
plastic, reclaimed wood, or recycled steel.25 Some green buildings use natural
materials like bamboo, straw, sheep’s wool insulation, “hempcrete” (a concrete-
like material made from hemp fibers), or “timbercrete” (a mix of sawdust and
concrete).26 Green buildings also consider resource conservation through devices
like high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and water-efficient irrigation
technologies.27

Energy efficiency is a cornerstone of green building.28 Green buildings use
energy efficient appliances that use less power to accomplish the same task as a
competing appliance.29 For example, smart thermostats are an energy efficient
alternative to manual thermostats because they connect to the internet and read
weather forecasts to self-adjust indoor temperatures.30 Tankless water heaters
instantaneously provide hot water only as needed instead of tank water heaters
that constantly use energy to keep gallons of water warm at all times.31 Thicker
insulation helps to cut utility bills by 50% and significantly reduces carbon
dioxide emissions from buildings.32 Some green buildings even cover uninsulated
roofs with living plants, which can save up to 5% of heating energy in the winter
and 33% of cooling energy in the summer.33

24. Joseph G. Allen et al., Green Buildings and Health, 2 CURRENT ENV’T HEALTH REP. 250

(July 10, 2015), https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40572-015-0063-y#citeas [https://perma.

cc/V46F-CMWU]. 

25. Id. 

26. Id. 

27. How to Increase Water Efficiency in Green Buildings?, ONE ENERGY SYS., https://www.

1energysystems.com/water-efficiency-in-green-building/#:~:text=The%20core%

20concepts%20of%20green,avoiding%20wastage%20of%20natural%20resources

[https://perma.cc/H2U6-5Y48] (last visited Feb. 1, 2023).

28. Emily Rabin, Durability: A Key Component of Green Building, GREENBIZ (Dec. 18,

2005), https://www.greenbiz.com/article/durability-key-component-green-building

[https://perma.cc/YT2S-LPCX].

29. Jane Marsh, The Top Energy Efficient Appliances, ENV’T (July 11, 2022),

https://environment.co/the-top-energy-efficient-appliances/ [https://perma.cc/VMG9-Y853].

30. Id.  

31. Tankless Water Heaters v. Storage Tank Water Heaters, GRAINGER (Feb. 17, 2022).

https://www.grainger.com/know-how/equipment-information/kh-tankless-vs-storage-tank-water-

heaters?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2296:AD9MJX:20511231&gclid=EAIaIQob

ChMIk5ak7rmx_QIV8ciUCR2fuw0JEAAYASAAEgLzSfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[https://perma.cc/7RTV-AL35].

32. Karen Carstens, Size and Thickness Do Matter, Say Housing-Insulation Makers, POLITICO

(May 27, 2003), https://www.politico.eu/article/size-and-thickness-do-matter-say-housing-

insulation-makers-2/ [https://perma.cc/3L9A-3L66].

33. 17+ Sustainable and Green Building Construction Materials, CONSERVE ENERGY

FUTURE, https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/sustainable-construction-materials.php

[https://perma.cc/N49M-ABP4] (last visited Feb. 1, 2023).



204 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

Durability is another cornerstone of green buildings because they must
withstand the effects of climate change.34 Extreme temperatures, strong storms,
flooding and other intense weather events cause conventional building materials
to deteriorate, but green building materials are manufactured to withstand these
events with minimal damage.35 Green buildings consider durability in the siting
of new buildings, so that they are built outside of floodplains and away from
coastlines.36 Green buildings consider internal moisture management,
implementing exhaust systems where the most significant moisture sources are
located, like kitchens and bathrooms.37 Other durability considerations in the
construction or retrofitting of buildings are thermal stressors which can cause
building materials to contract and expand, degradation from ultraviolet rays,
insect damage, and life cycle analyses of building materials so that builders can
be sure they are using materials that do not wear out as quickly as competing
materials.38

Conventional building materials can negatively affect human health, while
green buildings consider the effect of pollution and toxins on humans from
building materials. Many conventional building materials contain chemicals
which can lead to short- and long-term adverse health effects.39 Conventional
materials like concrete and certain types of paints and varnishes contaminate the
environment and can cause illness because of the human and environmental
consumption from their mining, extraction, production, treatment, transport, and
installation processes.40 Indoor air quality is especially affected by volatile
organic compounds emitted from building materials, which have an adverse effect
on the health of humans, especially humans that spend a lot of time indoors, like
students and office workers.41  Short-term effects are skin allergies, eye irritation,
throat irritation, or sneezing, while long term effects can manifest as asthma,
cancer, or infertility.42 Some of these effects can even pass to the next generation
in the form of autism, obesity, or hormonal disorders.43 Green buildings that use

34. Rabin, supra note 28. 

35. Id. 

36. Id. 

37. Id. 

38. Id. 

39. Partisha Laskar, Importance of Building Materials on Human Health, LINKEDIN (Aug.

23, 2020), linkedin.com/pulse/importance-building-materials-human-health-pratisha-laskar/?utm_

medium=website&utm_source=archdaily.com [https://perma.cc/4HEC-ABXT]. 

40. Non-Polluting Construction Materials, SUSTAINABILITY FOR ALL, https://www.

activesustainability.com/construction-and-urban-development/non-polluting-construction-

materials/?_adin=02021864894) [https://perma.cc/A3C6-DY4X] (last visited Feb. 1, 2023.

41. Mateusz Kozicki & Adam Nieslochowski, Materials Contamination and Indoor Air

Pollution Caused by Tar Products and Fungicidal Impregnations: Intervention Research in 2014-

2019, NAT’L LIBR. OF MED. (July 23, 2020), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/

PMC7435637/ [https://perma.cc/SF9Y-P8RH].

42. Laskar, supra note 39. 

43. Id. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 205

natural and sustainable materials can decrease or eliminate the negative health
effects to humans caused by conventional building materials.

Additionally, studies show that buildings which incorporate green
infrastructure like green roofs, ornamental living walls, or a surrounding
landscape with trees or living plants have positive effects on human health.44

People that live or work near areas with a higher concentration of green roofs
have better mental health, heal more quickly after an illness, and are more
productive at work.45 Australian hospitals with interior and exterior living plant
infrastructure reported reduced hospital stays by 8.5%, increased recovery time
by 15%, and lowered need for pain medication by 22%.46 Living plant
infrastructure in buildings also improves indoor air quality, which is one of the
top five environmental risks to human health.47  

Green building codes complement and expand the conventional building
concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.48 While conventional and
green buildings share a primary goal of public safety, green buildings consider
additional layers of public safety: the protection of humans and the natural
environment from pollution caused by buildings, within the broader context of
how the built environment can protect humans from the worsening effects of
climate change. By requiring durable, healthy, and sustainable materials, designs,
and components, green building codes provide long-lasting benefits to human and
environmental health.

B. What Is Happening with Green Building Codes
Throughout the United States?

Building codes are an increasingly popular area of legal interest to gas and
construction companies.49 Gas companies losing profits through the transition to
energy efficient homes and an increasing use of renewable energy sources are
influencing state legislators to pass state preemption laws which preclude local
governments from restricting the use of gas-powered appliances.50 Similarly,
construction companies are lobbying state legislators to preempt building code
control at the state level so that local governments cannot require environmentally
conscious building practices, which can require more expensive materials and

44. Sazan Rahman, Green Buildings Can Reduce Temperatures by Up to 2C, Study Shows,

WORLD ECON. F. (Feb. 17, 2022), https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/green-buildings-can-

boost-productivity-well-being-and-health-of-workers [https://perma.cc/39C3-M429].

45. Id. 

46. Id. 

47. Id. 

48. Green Building, Basic Information, supra note 23.

49. See Kaufman, supra note 21; Rebecca Leber, An “Attack on American Cities” is

Freezing Climate Action in its Tracks, VOX, (Sep. 29, 2021), https://www.vox.com/22691755/gas-

utilities-fight-electrification-preemption [https://perma.cc/W4SH-7STQ].

50. Id. 



206 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

specialized training for builders.51

The State of Arizona passed a building code preemption law in 2020.52 After
California’s CALGreen legislation, nearby natural gas companies noticed the
fiscal impact from lower usage rates of natural gas.53 Influenced by Southwest
Natural Gas and it’s political action committees’ campaign donations, Arizona
Senate President, Karen Fann, and Speaker of the House, Rusty Bowers,
introduced a bill that prohibited local governments from enacting building codes
that would favor electricity over natural gas.54 Their bill became law even though
no Arizona cities or towns had even attempted to pass a local law requiring that
any structures adhere to any sort of green building code at that time.55 Additional
states that have similarly passed building code preemption laws from the
influence of gas and construction companies are Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and
Tennessee, while fourteen other states are considering preemption bans.56 

Nevertheless, the City of Scottsdale, Arizona created a voluntary green
building program designed to reduce the environmental impact of buildings.57

Scottsdale’s Green Building Program works around the state’s building code
preemption statute because it is voluntary; the city did not set green building code
requirements. The City of Scottsdale gives cooperating builders the Green
Building Program logo to display in their structures because the city believes that
the logo will strengthen cooperating companies’ environmental image. The city
acknowledges that modern home buyers are more “savvy and demanding” when
selecting environmentally conscious home products.58 Scottsdale’s voluntary
program does not conflict with Arizona’s state preemption statute but provides
a pathway for environmentally conscious builders to follow.  

Some states follow an opposite path by codifying green building codes. The
State of California adopted the first and most robust statewide green building
code in the United States in 2009.59 The California Green Building Standards
Code, or CALGreen, works to improve public health, safety, and general welfare
through design and construction of residential and non-residential buildings.60

51. Id. 

52. Joan Fitzgerald, Preemption of Green Cities in Red States, PLANETIZAN (Sept. 7, 2021),

h t tps : / /www.planet izen .com/b logs/114584-preemption-green-ci t ies-red-states

[https://perma.cc/K3WZ-D6QG].

53. Id. 

54. Id. 

55. Id. 

56. Id. 

57. Invitation to Participate, CITY OF SCOTTSDALE, https://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/green-

building-program/invitation [https://perma.cc/7KNM-7NDB] (last visited Mar. 1, 2023).

58. Id. 

59. California Green Building Standards Code, Tit. 24, Part 11 (2022, Act effective Jan. 1,

2023).

60. CALGreen, CAL. DEP’T OF HOUS. & DEV., https://www.hcd.ca.gov/building-standards/

calgreen#:~:text=CALGreen%20is%20California's%20first%20green,California%20Code%20o

f%20Regulations%20%E2%80%8C  [https://perma.cc/3FVF-QSTP] (last visited Mar. 1, 2023). 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 207

CALGreen does not preclude local California governments from enacting stricter
green building regulations, however, by 2010, at least fifty California local
governments did so.61 California’s goal is to encourage positive environmental
impact and sustainable construction practices through five categories: planning
and design, energy efficiency, water efficiency and conservation, material
conservation and resource efficiency, and environmental quality.62 CALGreen
involves mandatory and voluntary practices for all buildings constructed after
January 1, 2011, with provisions for both newly constructed buildings and
alterations for existing buildings.63 Additional states that have codified green
building codes or standards are Colorado,64 Virginia, Washington, and Oregon.65

States are divided over the issue of building codes and how much control
their local governments should have to enact their own building requirements.
Further, interference from utility and construction companies has caused building
codes throughout states to become a “battleground.”66 Indiana is one such
battleground state. 

III. LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS OF PL180, HOW PL 180’S

POLICY HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON INDIANA COMMUNITIES,
AND POSSIBLE LEGAL SOLUTIONS

PL 180 was enacted in 2021 and added to Indiana’s Home Rule Statute.67 PL
180 provides that local units may not:

(a) Require that new buildings be constructed, or existing buildings be
retrofitted, with a particular component, design, or type of material
because that component, design, or material has energy-saving or
energy-producing qualities;

(b) Prohibit the use of a particular component, design, or type of

61. Andrea Ward, California Adopted Nation’s First Statewide Green Building Code,

ARCHITECTURAL REC., (Feb. 9, 2010), https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/5407-

california-adopts-nation-s-first-statewide-green-building-code [https://perma.cc/LVW8-PZHN].

62. CALGreen, supra note 54.

63. Id. 

64. Calvin Hennick, Regulatory Wins for Green Buildings in Three U.S. States, U.S. GREEN

BLDG. COUNCIL (Feb. 11, 2021), https://www.usgbc.org/articles/regulatory-wins-green-building-

three-us-states [https://perma.cc/DV3Z-S77G]; Colorado has adopted green building standards, not

green building codes. Building standards are voluntary requirements typically written in technical

language for architects and builders, while building codes are law. See Green Building Codes,

Standards, and Rating Systems, supra note 21.

65. Hennick, supra note 63; see also Green Codes and Initiatives, BLDG. INNOVATIONS

DATABASE, https://www.buildinginnovations.org/green-codes-initiatives/ [https://perma.cc/95UF-

6VQM] (last visited Mar. 14, 2023). 

66. David Iaconangelo, Building Codes: The New Natural Gas Battlefront?, ENERGY WIRE

(May 3, 2022), https://www.eenews.net/articles/building-codes-the-new-natural-gas-battlefront/

[https://perma.cc/5W8S-DQC4]. 

67. IND. CODE § 36-1-3-13 (2021). 



208 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

material in the construction of a building because the component,
design, or material does not meet an energy saving standard;

(c) Prohibit or restrict the purchase or use of vehicles or other machines
based upon the type of energy that powers it;68

(d) Prohibit the sale, installation, or use of natural-gas powered home
heating equipment and home or outdoor appliances; or

(e) Enact codes, ordinances, or land use regulations that would stop
utilities from selling, or customers from purchasing, liquid petroleum
gas or other fuel based on the energy source.69

PL 180 has wide-ranging subject matter, combining restrictions on building
materials, designs, and components based on their energy-saving or -producing
capabilities, restriction to prohibit natural gas powered appliances, restriction of
vehicle sales based on their power source, and restriction of local land use
ordinances based on the ability of customers to purchase or utilities to sell liquid
petroleum gas.70 Construction materials, vehicles, home appliances, and land use
ordinances seem disconnected to be joined in one law; the connecting factor is
that their sale, use, or installation is limited based on what kind of energy they
use. More specifically, the law prohibits the sale, use, or installation of these
components only if local governments work to require that they have energy-
saving qualities. This Note focuses on PL 180’s construction limitations but finds
that home appliances and land use ordinances conveniently work into an overall
preclusion of green building codes.

The passage of PL 180 was supported by Country Mark, Indiana/Michigan
Power, the Indiana Energy Association, the Indiana Manufacturer’s Association,
and the Indiana Builder’s Association.71 The law was also supported by the
Indiana Chamber of Commerce, whose members use, trade, and invest in fossil
fuels.72 Further, the Indiana Environmental Reporter has conjectured that the law
was supported by members of the American Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC), a nonprofit organization that joins state legislators with experienced
drafters, which can include lobbyists.73 Critics point to ALEC’s boilerplate
language, present in PL 180, that has also turned up in energy and building code

68. Part (c) prohibits local governments from requiring that vehicles used or purchased in

their jurisdiction have any energy saving attributes. For example, a local government cannot require

that car dealerships in their jurisdiction only sell electric vehicles. The transportation sector

accounted for 27% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, exceeding the electric power sector’s

emissions by 2%. However, the transportation sector is outside the scope of this Note. See DANIEL

A. FARBER & CINNAMON P. CARLARNE, CLIMATE CHANGE L. 148, 291 (Foundation Press, 2nd ed.

2023).

69. See IND. CODE § 36-1-3-13 (2021); see also Saenz, supra note 4 (Saenz paraphrases PL

180 in an easy-to-read way in which it is displayed in this Note but is not the full text in the Indiana

Code).

70. IND. CODE § 36-1-3-13 (2021).

71. Saenz, supra note 4. 

72. Id. 

73. Id. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 209

preemption laws at the influence of ALEC in Kansas, Missouri, West Virginia,
and several other states.74 

Rep. Jim Pressel, the primary author of the law, framed PL 180 as a short-
term measure to aid Hoosiers during the Covid-19 Pandemic: “I think it’s very
unfair to our constituents . . . to take away any source of energy that is . . . during
a pandemic, the cheapest and most affordable way to heat your house.”75 While
Pressel describes the law as a pandemic protection, many pandemic protections
were temporary and ended when Federal funding ceased or the state ended its
public health emergency status,76 unlike PL 180, a law that will be codified as
Indiana law unless it is repealed by the legislature or successfully challenged in
court. 

Pressel’s reasoning may be more self-serving than a measure to help Hoosiers
during a pandemic–Pressel was the president of the Indiana Home Builder’s
Association in 2016, and is also a current member of the board of directors for a
high school program regarding building trades.77 Further, Rep. Pressel owns a
construction business which primarily builds new residential homes and remodels
old residential homes in Northwest Indiana.78 Conveniently for Rep. Pressel, PL
180 precludes local Indiana governments from requiring that his business should
construct or remodel homes according to any green building codes. 

PL 180 is not a law to help Hoosiers during a pandemic; PL 180 is a law that
insulates construction companies, like Rep. Pressel’s, from changing their
building techniques or bearing extra expense to use environmentally conscious
building materials, designs, and components. Further, at the behest of local utility
companies, PL 180 reinforces Hoosiers’ dependence on fossil fuels as well as the

74. Id.; see also Kari Lydersen, Indiana Lawmakers to Vote on Bill to Ban Local Heating

Electrification Initiatives, ENERGY NEWS NETWORK (Jan. 25, 2021), https://energynews.us/

2021/01/25/indiana-lawmakers-to-vote-on-bill-to-ban-local-heating-electrification-initiatives/

[https://perma.cc/QR38-QY9E].

75. Id. 

76. The State of Indiana ended its public health emergency status resulting from the Covid-19

Pandemic on March 3, 2022. See Brandon Smith, Gov. Holcomb Officially Ends Indiana’s Covid-

19 Public Health Emergency, WFYI (Mar. 3, 2022), https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/gov-eric-

holcomb-officially-ends-indianas-covid-19-public-health-emergency [https://perma.cc/BJF5-A8J4].

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, many Hoosiers were eligible to receive temporary emergency

resources, such as rental assistance and additional SNAP benefits. The Indy Rent program stopped

taking applications in 2022 when federal funding ended; see IndyRent Assistance Portal, CITY OF

INDIANAPOLIS, https://indyrent.org/ [https://perma.cc/J8CN-9AN6] (last visited Feb.19, 2023).

Additional SNAP benefits given during the Covid-19 pandemic ceased when the State ended its

public health emergency status. See SNAP Benefits – Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond, U.S. DEPT

OF AGRIC. (Oct. 8, 2021), https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/benefit-changes-2021#:~:text=30%2C%

202021.,permanently%20adjusted%20as%20of%20Oct [https://perma.cc/VNH7-ZYWT].

77. Jim Pressel, IND. HOUSE OF REP. REPUBLICAN CAUCUS, https://www.indianahouse

republicans.com/members/general/jim-pressel) [https://perma.cc/Y37R-LTE6] (last visited Mar.

15, 2023).

78. Id. 



210 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

money Hoosiers give to gas companies through the payment of their energy bills.
Rep. Pressel’s purported consideration for Hoosier’s energy costs is merely cover
for the protection of his own construction interests as well as the gas companies
that influenced passage of the law. 

A. PL 180’s Impact on Indiana Communities

There is a misconception that Hoosiers are not concerned about the effects of
climate change.79 In a survey of about twelve hundred Hoosiers across the state,
Indiana University found that over 80% of rural and urban residents believe that
climate change is happening to some degree.80 The environment ranks third out
of the top four priorities for Hoosiers, after education and health care,
respectively.81 Because Hoosiers are concerned about the effects of climate
change in their communities, many local governments have enacted Climate
Action Plans (with assistance from Indiana University’s Environmental
Resilience Institute), which describe specific strategies that communities will take
to reduce their local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate
change.82 

In Richmond, Indiana, over 80% of respondents to Richmond’s climate
action survey expressed concern about climate change and its future effects.83

Richmond’s Climate Action Plan associates five symbols attributed to certain
provisions described as “co-benefits,” beneficial side effects of pursuing a
particular adaptation or mitigation strategy.84 Some co-benefits consist of a
“nature co-benefit” which improves the natural environment, an “economic co-
benefit” which could manifest as cost savings or significant revenues, and a
“health co-benefit” which could reduce or avert negative health effects, like

79. Molly Burhans et al., How do Rural Hoosiers View Climate Change? Insights Towards

Engagement and Policy Design, IND. UNIV. ENV’T RESILIENCE INST. (2022), https://eri.iu.edu/tools-

and-resources/hoosier-life-survey/hls-rural-report-text-alternative.html [https://perma.cc/J6FE-

ZY4Q].

80. Id. 

81. David Daugherty et al., Attitudes and Opinions About Environmental Issues in Indiana,

ARIZ. STATE UNIV. MORRISON INST. FOR PUB. POL’Y (May 2020), https://www.ninapulliamtrust.

org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/WEBSITE-Pulliam-Indy-Enviro-Survey-Report-2020-5-15-2020-

1.pdf [https://perma.cc/2NVM-CES3].

82. Other local units with climate action plans include Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Carmel,

Indianapolis, Elkhart, Evansville, Gary, Goshen, Zionsville, and West Lafayette. Jonathan Hines,

Indiana Cities to Develop Climate Action Plans in Partnership With IU, IND. UNIV. (Mar. 9, 2020),

https://news.iu.edu/stories/2020/03/iu/releases/09-indiana-cities-reduce-greenhouse-gases-

resilience-cohort.html [https://perma.cc/EAF7-U7XS].

83. City of Richmond, Indiana Climate Action Plan, Res. 9-2022, 2 (Aug. 31, 2022)

https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=166377&repo=r-979ae874&preview=

ZzbKa7B [https://perma.cc/2TYT-GEH2].

84. Id. at 9. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 211

improved air quality or decreased heat stress.85  
The first approach to Richmond’s plan is to adapt their built environment.86

Richmond asks: “[h]ow can we strengthen infrastructure knowing that extreme
temperatures and precipitation can be destructive to concrete, pavement, and
other commonly used construction materials?”87 Their strategies to address this
problem include implementing programs that reduce heat impacts on buildings
and adopting policies for post-flood repairs to damaged infrastructure.88

Richmond also plans to evaluate how their local business community will be
affected by increasing costs to recover from extreme weather events and higher
insurance rates.89 PL 180 precludes Richmond from requiring that homes and
local businesses build or retrofit their buildings with green building materials; as
a result, Richmond will continue to mitigate destructive climate events, spending
local tax dollars on these issues in perpetuity, instead of being able to require
green building codes which would provide a long-lasting foundation of protection
and economic savings. 

Richmond’s plan also contains a provision for increasing renewable energy
sources in their local energy portfolio and integrating renewable energy into land
use and zoning codes.90 Notably, Richmond’s plan “encourage[s] alternative
energy generation,” 91 but PL 180 precludes Richmond from requiring alternative
energy generation, storage, and distribution. PL 180 also precludes Richmond
from adopting any land use ordinances which would stop utilities from selling,
or customers from purchasing, liquid petroleum gas as their energy source instead
of requiring the use of renewable energy.92 Richmond’s Climate Action Plan and
projected co-benefits will never reach their full potential for protection, economic
savings, and health benefits if Richmond cannot fully implement their mitigation
and adaptation strategies. Instead, Richmond and other Indiana communities will
exist in a constant state of trying to mitigate and recover, rather than providing
meaningful and reliable resilience to their built environments and residents
through green building codes. 

PL 180 unnecessarily stymies Indiana local governments’ plans to fight
climate change through environmentally conscious construction and energy
production. Consequently, Indiana communities’ plans to create resilience for
their residents will never be fully realized and communities will never be able to
provide the full protection they seek and which climate change commands. Sadly,
PL 180 disincentivizes local Indiana governments from enacting climate change
mitigation and adaptation efforts and sends a broader message that their state
legislators are not on their side and may even preempt any climate action efforts

85. Id. 

86. Id. at 2. 

87. Id. at 12. 

88. Id. at 20-21. 

89. Id. at 23. 

90. Id. at 3. 

91. Id. (emphasis added). 

92. IND. CODE § 36-1-3-13 (2021).



212 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

they attempt to implement. Most egregiously, PL 180 is a misuse of power by our
legislators who will not act on constituents’ concerns about the effects our state
faces from climate change, and instead use their ability to create law to their own
advantage at the environmental and economic detriment of Hoosiers and Indiana
communities. 

B. PL 180 Is a Burden to Indiana Communities’ Environmental Health

PL 180 maintains the status quo for Indiana’s current environmental health
rankings: Indiana has the forty-sixth worst natural environment and forty-sixth
worst air quality in the United States.93 Indiana has the highest carbon footprint
in the Industrial Midwest94 and ranks eighth in the top ten states which emit the
highest levels of GHG emissions.95 Indiana has already been impacted by climate
change through effects like heavy rainfall, extreme heat waves, and increasing
disease-spreading insect populations like mosquitos.96 By 2050, the number of
extremely hot days will significantly increase in every Indiana county.97 These
issues are forecast to become worse as GHG emissions rise.98

While conventional buildings contribute to over 40% of national GHG
emissions, green buildings can reduce emissions significantly.99 A 2014 UC
Berkeley study found that buildings constructed to Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) standards reduced their emissions by 50% due to
efficient water consumption, 48% through reduced solid waste generation, and
5% from reduced transportation.100 When buildings use less water, the emissions
which result from the energy used to withdraw, treat and pump the water are
reduced.101 Recycled and sustainably manufactured building materials cause less
solid waste to end up in landfills, and reduced transportation of materials and
solid waste to and from buildings lowers emissions from fuel consumption.102

Indiana communities are denied a crucial opportunity to provide protection

93. Emily Hopkins, Indiana Has a Pollution Reputation. Here’s How Bad It Is.,

INDIANAPOLIS STAR (Apr. 24, 2018), https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2018/04/19/how-bad-

indianas-environment-actually-according/525003002/ [https://perma.cc/44RN-P8S9]. 

94. Saenz, supra note 4. 

95. Sarah Bowman, Scrub Hub: How Much of the U.S. Carbon Emissions Come From

Indiana? (Hint: It’s a Lot), INDIANAPOLIS STAR (Sept. 7, 2021), https://www.indystar.com/story/

news/environment/2021/09/07/indiana-carbon-emissions-ranking-among-highest-us/5683729001/

[https://perma.cc/M2G7-PKCM]. 

96. Burhans et al., supra note 79.

97. See Indiana’s Past and Future Climate, supra note 4, at 3-4. 

98. Id. 

99. Christina Huynh, How Green Buildings Can Help Fight Climate Change, U.S. GREEN

BLDG. COUNCIL (Mar. 1, 2021), https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-green-buildings-can-help-

fight-climate-change [https://perma.cc/BS6Q-T9DL].

100. Id. 

101. Id. 

102. Id. 

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-green-buildings-can-help-fight-climate-change
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-green-buildings-can-help-fight-climate-change


2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 213

and longevity to their environments without the ability to require a reduction in
GHG emissions from their local built environments through green building codes.
As our global climate rapidly and severely warms, state and local government
initiatives can make a significant collective difference in the reduction of GHG
emissions: “[t]he truth is that despite the large-scale, global impact of climate
change . . . states and cities, not Washington D.C. . . . have most of the legal
powers to prevent warming. . . .”103 PL 180 precludes local Indiana governments
from facilitating their powerful role in protecting our local, state, and global
climate. Instead, PL 180 reinforces our current trajectory towards an
uninhabitable climate by bolstering Indiana’s astonishing rate of GHG emissions
through usage of conventional construction practices.104

Additionally, PL 180 reinforces Indiana’s dependence on fossil fuel powered
energy sources, historically an industry which has emitted the most GHG
emissions than any other sector.105 Gabriel Fillipelli, executive director of Indiana
University’s Environmental Resilience Institute, said that PL 180 “delays the
really critical inevitability of switching over to renewable, non-climate
destructive energy sources.”106 Our climate will never heal if we do not
“dramatically” change how we generate and use electricity.107 Indiana
communities must make this switch to renewable energy as natural resources
become scarcer and more expensive,108 and GHG emissions from fossil fuel

103. Bill Ritter, Why States and Cities Must Lead the Way on Climate Change, WALL ST. J.

(Apr. 26, 2016), https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-258B-6941 [https://perma.cc/6TKJ-KLVM]. 

104. A U.N. report published on Mar. 20, 2023 reveals that “nations will need to make an

immediate and drastic shift away from fossil fuels to prevent the planet from overheating

dangerously . . . .”; Brad Plumer, World Has Less Than a Decade to Stop Catastrophic Warming,

U.N. Panel Says, N.Y. TIMES (Mar. 21, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/climate/

global-warming-ipcc-earth.html [https://perma.cc/GE8X-99G5]. 

105. The energy sector has historically been the largest emitter of GHG emissions, though the

transportation sector’s GHG emission surpassed the energy sector’s by 2% in 2020. See Farber &

Carlarne, supra note 68.

106. Saenz, supra note 4.

107. Importance of Renewable Energy in the Fight Against Climate Change, WORLD

WILDLIFE FUND (2015), https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/summer-2015/articles/

importance-of-renewable-energy-in-the-fight-against-climate-change--3 [https://perma.cc/8FVE-

9LCE]. 

108. See Energy Prices Expected to Stay at Historic Highs Through 2023, ENBRIDGE (July

27, 2022), https://www.enbridge.com/projects-and-infrastructure/public-awareness/line-5-

newsroom/energy-prices-expected-to-stay-at-historic-highs-through-2023 [https://perma.cc/WR2N-

J8P7]; Heath Knakmuhs, Inflation and Resource Scarcity Drove Electricity Rates Higher in 2021,

U.S. CHAMBER COM. GLOB. ENERGY INST. (April 12, 2022), https://www.globalenergyinstitute.

org/inflation-and-resource-scarcity-drove-electricity-rates-higher-2021 [https://perma.cc/X2WK-

JZKA]. Utility prices have also been affected by the Russia/Ukraine War. See Suriya Jayanti, Think

the Energy Crisis is Bad? Wait Until Next Winter, TIME (Oct. 31, 2022), https://time.com/6226587/

energy-crisis-next-winter/ [https://perma.cc/6SBW-92D2]. 



214 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

powered energy sources create untenable emissions levels.109 However, PL 180
keeps Indiana communities from shifting to renewable energy sources, delaying
our ability to become familiar and comfortable with renewable energy
technologies and maintaining Indiana’s significant contribution to global GHG
emissions levels through fossil fuel powered energy sources.  

Finally, PL 180 sets a discouraging tone for Indiana communities to effect
meaningful changes to lower their environmental impact. PL 180 sends a message
to local Indiana governments that they can expect their environmental efforts to
be preempted by the state, especially when those efforts affect major corporations
with close ties to Indiana legislators. Unlike Scottsdale’s Green Building Logo,
which the city believes will encourage interest in environmental consciousness,
PL 180 precludes local governments from increasing visibility of environmental
conservation through requirement of green building practices. Hoosiers know the
truth is that our climate is dangerously changing, and we will be affected by
catastrophic climate effects soon,110 but our legislature continuously denies
opportunities to enact law or policy that reflect constituents’ climate concerns.111

Indeed, PL 180 demonstrates that our legislators actively work against their
constituent’s concerns about climate change. 

C. PL 180 Is a Burden to Hoosiers’ and Indiana
Communities’ Economic Health

PL 180 acts as an economic security for Rep. Pressel’s home building
business and gas and construction companies at increasing, long-term costs to
Indiana residents and communities. PL 180 will cause Hoosiers to pay more for
energy and building maintenance costs as natural resources become more scarce
and conventional building materials deteriorate.112 PL 180 also precludes
Hoosier’s properties from reaching their full property value potential since
resilient homes boast higher values.113 Finally, PL 180 precludes local
governments from attracting environmentally conscious businesses, an expense
borne by Indiana residents and community economic development. 

Green buildings are an important financial investment for Hoosier home and

109. Farber & Carlarne, supra note 68.

110. Hines, supra note 82.

111. The Indiana General Assembly has denied many environmental actions supported by

Hoosiers. See Karl Schneider, Youth-Driven Bill to Create Climate Task Force Dies in Senate —

Again, INDIANAPOLIS STAR (Feb. 27, 2023), https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2023/02/27/

indiana-cl imate-change-task-force-bil l -gets-hearing-but-no-vote/69927018007/

[https://perma.cc/6K4K-BBHS]; Sarah Bowman & Karl Schneider, These Bills Seek to Protect the

Environment and Hoosiers’ Health. They Die Every Year., INDIANAPOLIS STAR (Jan. 30, 2023),

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2023/01/30/indiana-general-assembly-ignores-

environment-public-health-bills-year-after-year/69833407007/ [https://perma.cc/KD26-YE3D]. 

112. Knakmuhs, supra note 108. 

113. ALICE C. HILL & LEONARDO MARTINEZ-DIAZ, BUILDING A RESILIENT TOMORROW 23,

213 (Oxford University Press, 2020). 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 215

business owners and Indiana communities.114 While green building materials can
command higher prices in the building process, they provide significant long-
term financial savings.115 Green building materials are more expensive than
conventional building materials because they may be less readily available and
construction may take longer and require specialized knowledge to work with
green technologies and materials.116 However, the cost of green building materials
is lowering as competition in the market and interest in green building grows.117

One study found that a structure built to achieve basic LEED certification costs
only 0.8% more to build than a conventional building.118 Importantly, green
buildings create significant long-term savings for Hoosiers and local governments
through energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs which offset higher
upfront costs.

MIT Technology Review predicts that energy demands for cooling will triple
by 2050.119 Increased energy usage in Indiana homes and businesses will result
in higher utility bills. In a 2020 survey, almost 30% of Indiana households go
without food or medicine to pay their utility bill.120 These households also
received at least one disconnection notice or will keep their home at “unhealthy”
temperatures to keep their utility bills low.121 Energy efficiency is a critical part
of green building design that lowers residents’ utility bills. PL 180 disincentivizes
energy efficiency: real estate developers are likely to install cheaper-for-them,
less energy efficient appliances without a requirement to install environmentally
conscious building components. This issue is precisely why local communities
must be able to require green building codes. Otherwise, builders will choose
materials, designs, and components that seem easier and less expensive for them
to work with, at the long-term expense of Hoosiers. 

Since green buildings are more durable than conventional buildings, they

114. Marc Karell, Saving Green: The Financial Benefits of Green Buildings, FM LINK (Dec.

2019), https://www.fmlink.com/articles/saving-green-financial-benefits-green-buildings/#:~:

text=Reduced%20Costs.&text=Many%20green%20updates%20prove%20to,cost%20savings%

20year%20after%20year [https://perma.cc/RKW8-GFZH].

115. Green Buildings: What Are Green Buildings?, PAC. NW. NAT’L LAB’Y, https://www.pnnl.

gov/explainer-articles/green-buildings#:~:text=Benefits%20of%20green%20buildings,reducing%

20emissions%20and%20other%20waste [https://perma.cc/CF9G-FG8J] (last visited Mar. 1, 2023).

116. Id. 

117. Karell, supra note 114.

118. Charles Lockwood, Building the Green Way, HARV. BUS. REV. (June 2006), https://hbr.

org/2006/06/building-the-green-way [https://perma.cc/QN7M-E43J].

119. Green Building and Design: The Future of Sustainable Design, OHIO UNIV. (July 20,

2022) https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/green-building-and-design/ [https://perma.cc/D766-

QJN3]. 

120. Rebecca Thiele, How Many Hoosiers Are Getting Their Power Shut Off? A State Agency

Wants More Info, WFYI INDIANAPOLIS (July 7, 2022) https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/how-

many-hoosiers-are-getting-their-power-shut-off-a-state-agency-wants-more-info

[https://perma.cc/WJ37-666H]. 

121. Id. 



216 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

create less long-term maintenance costs.122 The savings from green buildings
return the initial investment in green materials and construction; if a property
owner initially pays for more durable construction materials and energy efficient
appliances, they will experience the savings from those improvements
perpetually.123 Marc Karell, President of the energy and environmental consulting
firm Climate Change & Environmental Services, describes the return on green
building investment: 

If a building owner saves, say, $10,000 per year in electricity costs the
first year after changes, the savings will not only be the same $10,000 the
next year, but actually more, as savings are based on a utility rate which
only rises in time (how often do utilities lower their electric or gas
rates?). The second year, the cost savings may well be $10,300, and the
third year, $10,700, etc., for as many years as the technologies last. For
LED lighting, that could mean seven to ten years or more; and all without
having to do any additional efforts.124

PL 180 precludes Hoosiers and Indiana communities from investing in the
perpetual savings that green buildings provide. Consequently, Indiana residents
will see increasing utility and structural maintenance costs as fossil-fuel-powered
energy costs rise125 and conventional building infrastructure deteriorates.126

Further, Hoosiers who own homes not built or retrofitted according to green
building practices will miss out on higher property values, since green single-
family residences can command up to an estimated $15,000 increase in home
value.127

Additionally, PL 180 detracts from environmentally conscious talent,
business, and technology.128 Hoosier Environmental Council Executive Director
Jesse Kharbanda said, “This [law] will hamper the plans of any Indiana cities that
might have aspired, for economic development, talent attraction and retention,
and/or quality of life reasons, to be at the national forefront of being an all-around
environmentally sustainable city.”129 Branding is powerful; companies push
environmental branding because many consumers care about the environmental
impact of their purchasing power.130 The City of Scottsdale, Arizona realized that
green branding attracts customers to their Green Building Program when
cooperative builders display their green logo.131 PL 180 disincentivizes companies
who want to make an environmental impact from coming to Indiana

122. Rabin, supra note 28.

123. Karell, supra note 114. 

124. Id. 

125. Knakmuhs, supra note 108. 

126. Rabin, supra note 28.

127. Hill & Martinez-Diaz, supra note 113.

128. Saenz, supra note 4. 

129. Id. 

130. See City of Scottsdale, supra note 57. 

131. Id. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 217

communities, an expense which is not borne by legislators, but directly borne by
residents and communities. Through PL 180, our legislature has limited the types
of economic development opportunities Indiana may attract, and instead has
given that financial benefit to gas and construction companies. PL 180 reduces
communities’ ability to reduce costs from energy and building maintenance,
while constraining avenues to invite new opportunities to stimulate their local
economies. 

D. PL 180 Diminishes Indiana Communities’ Resilience from
the Effects of Climate Change

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines community
resilience as “the sustained ability of communities to withstand, adapt to, and
recover from adversity.”132 The Department connects community resilience to
human health, noting that health is a “key foundation” of community resilience
because much of the Department’s purpose is in the “interest of human health and
welfare.”133 Communities are collectively healthier and more resilient when their
residents are protected by durably built environments with reliable energy
sources. However, PL 180 precludes Indiana communities from reaching their
full potential to create resiliency by precluding them from requiring that homes
and buildings be constructed or retrofitted through robust and sustainable green
building codes.

Green buildings improve human health not only through use of materials
which reduce or avert the effects of pollution from conventional materials, but
also by protecting Hoosiers and communities through buildings constructed to
withstand severe natural disasters.134 Green buildings consider sea level rise,
extreme temperatures, severe storms, and other climate risks that can deteriorate
or destroy the structures that humans live and work in.135 For example, newly
constructed LEED certified buildings resilient from flooding are built with
consideration of the 500-year floodplain, and existing LEED certified buildings
below the 500-year floodplain develop a detailed flood plan with on-site supplies
and modifications for electrical switches outside the reach of high water levels.136

Heat resistant LEED certified structures provide external shade areas with access
to water sources, implement drought-resistant plants that provide shade, and use

132. Community Resilience, U.S. DEP. OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERV. (June 9, 2015),

https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/abc/Pages/community-resilience.aspx#:~:text=

Community%20resilience%20is%20the%20sustained,big%20part%20of%20overall%20resilience.

[perma.cc/2MD5-BK4P].  

133. Id. 

134. Design for Enhanced Resilience, U.S. GREEN BLDG. COUNCIL, https://www.usgbc.org/

credits/enhancedresilience [https://perma.cc/6NLH-45TM] (last visited March 13, 2023).

135. Why Green Building is Synonymous with Resilience, U.S. GREEN BLDG. COUNCIL,

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/why-green-building-synonymous-resilience (last visited March 13,

2023) [https://perma.cc/3DRJ-6LFC].

136. Design for Enhanced Resilience, supra note 134.



218 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

high-reflectivity paving materials like concrete, a material more durable than
asphalt or gravel.

Similarly, renewable energy sources are a characteristic of green buildings
that can support resiliency by providing reliable power in the event of power
outages caused by natural disasters.137 As Indiana experiences more symptoms of
climate change, energy derived from renewable sources like solar panels and
wind turbines can maintain power to cooking appliances, medical equipment, or
keep families warm during colder winters and cool during hotter summers.
Renewable energy sources save lives: the Blue Lake Rancheria tribe in Northern
California reported that their solar grid saved four tribal members’ lives by
powering essential medical devices during a multi-day power outage.138 

While renewable energy sources can save lives, green buildings can also help
can help people heal faster, improve mental health, lower the need for pain
medication, and improve indoor air quality.139 As climate disasters become more
severe — disasters able to destroy homes or leave residents stranded in their
homes without power — Indiana communities must be able to help residents
prevent as much harm as possible and recover from harm quickly.140 Green
buildings are a necessary step in saving lives, bouncing back, and creating
meaningful community resilience. 

Further, lower income communities are more susceptible to health-related
effects of climate change from power outages and extreme heat waves.141 In
Robert R.M. Verchick’s book arguing that the Federal Government should
assume a stronger regulatory role in managing natural infrastructure and public
risk in our post-Hurricane Katrina world, he notes that “[c]atastrophe is bad for

137. Michael Panfil, Resiliency +: Renewable Energy Can Boost Grid Resilience in

Vulnerable New Jersey, ENV’T. DEFENSE FUND (April 30, 2014), https://blogs.edf.org/energy

exchange/2014/04/30/resiliency-renewable-energy-can-boost-grid-resilience-in-vulnerable-new-

jersey/#:~:text=Renewable%20energy%20can%20increase%20energy,wake%20of%20a%20nat

ural%20disaster [https://perma.cc/YH3V-K8K7].

138. Alexander Dane & Katie Pastor, 3 Ways US Cities Are Investing in Clean Energy for

Resilience, WORLD RESOURCES INST. (June 16, 2020), https://www.wri.org/insights/3-ways-us-

cities-are-investing-clean-energy-resilience [https://perma.cc/Q4HR-3ZBQ].

139. Rahman, supra note 41. 

140. See Kaitlyn Radde, Storms Across the U.S. Cause Deaths and Power Outages, NPR (Mar.

4, 2023), https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161131706/storms-deaths-power-outages-extreme-

weather-wind-snow [https://perma.cc/SE2L-QLDA]; Staggering Snowfall in California Leaves

Residents Trapped for Days, CBS NEWS (Mar. 2, 2023), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-

snow-winter-storm-residents-trapped/ [https://perma.cc/PL5P-A6UU]; Irina Ivanova, Millions of

Americans are Fleeing their Homes Because of Extreme Weather, CBS NEWS (Feb. 14, 2023),

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-displaced-millions-from-homes-extreme-weather-

natural-disaster/ [https://perma.cc/4GFW-3YLP]. 

141. Kaiyu Sun, et al., Passive Cooling Designs to Improve Resilience of Homes in

Underserved and Vulnerable Communities, SCIENCE DIRECT (Dec. 2021), https://www.

sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378778821006678 [https://perma.cc/Z7GE-MNS9].



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 219

everyone. But it is especially bad for the weak and disenfranchised.”142

Verchick’s assertion is particularly true in relation to the effects of climate
change.143 PL 180 precludes local governments from requiring green building
practices in communities where environmentally conscious construction could be
lifesaving to those who cannot afford higher cooling and heating rates. For
example, a study found that passive cooling measures, which operate without
power, can be effective if the method is tailored to the particular building.144

However, PL 180 prohibits local governments form requiring that buildings be
built or retrofitted with any energy-saving design like passive cooling. 

PL 180 precludes Indiana local governments from requiring that homes and
built environments be constructed or retrofitted to protect Hoosiers’ lives or help
them recover from the physical effects caused by severe weather and
temperatures. In this way, PL 180 works against the historical purpose of building
codes to protect the public; instead, the law makes communities vulnerable and
unsafe to our increasingly dangerous climate, which could result in injury and
death to Hoosiers. Indiana’s legislature has decreased communities’ ability to
adapt, withstand, and recover from the effects of climate change for the benefit
of industries which are directly making our climate more threatening. 

E. PL 180 Undercuts the Historical Purpose of Home Rule Power

Local governments derive their power to control municipal and regulatory
activities from the state in which they are located, usually through general
statutes, constitutional provisions, or local charters.145 One way states grant power
to local governments is through constitutional or statutory Home Rule. Home
Rule is generally celebrated as a state’s most meaningful grant of independence
to its local governments, though there is great variation of Home Rule powers
among states.146 Home Rule grants local governments discretion over government
form, structure, functions, fiscal, and regulatory matters, unless the state has
specifically retained certain powers through statutory or constitutional
preemption.147 Proponents of Home Rule believe that effective local government
depends on local autonomy from the state government, that local governments

142. ROBERT R.M. VERCHICK, FACING CATASTROPHE: ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION FOR A POST-

KATRINA WORLD 104, 336 (Harvard University Press, 1st ed., 2010); see also Farber & Carlarne,

supra note 68.

143. Farber & Carlarne, supra note 68.

144. Sun et al, supra note 141.  

145. DANIEL L. MANDELKER ET AL., STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN A FEDERAL SYSTEM,

95, 988 (2021).

146. Kate Leo Shaffner, What is Home Rule? WHYY (July 24, 2014) https://whyy.org/articles/

what-is-home-rule/ [https://perma.cc/6VJ8-J9MA]; see also Home Rule in the Midwest, IND. UNIV.

PUB. POL’Y INST. (July 2010), https://ppidb.iu.edu/Uploads/PublicationFiles/PC_HmRules_

Web.pdf [https://perma.cc/4AUW-8VDM]. 

147. Mandelker et al., supra note 145 at 108; see also Home Rule in the Midwest, supra note

145.



220 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

can best address their community’s needs, and that the state legislature should
focus on uniform statewide policies rather than specific local issues.148 Home
Rule gives authority to local  governments to “evolve solutions” to local problems
without seeking state approval.149  

The constitutional Home Rule movement developed in the late nineteenth
century from a desire to provide local governments with autonomy in deciding
matters of local importance and to preclude “governmental favoritism in the form
of special privileges to favored private actors.”150 The “urban reformers” who
championed the Home Rule movement sought to protect the public from special
state legislation influenced by private actors which created higher levels of local
taxing and spending.151 The reformers deemed the special favors conferred by law
to private actors as a burden on local units of a “particularly odious species.”152 

Indiana adopted its Home Rule statute from the Home Rule Act of 1980.153

Under the Home Rule Act, Indiana local governments have broad authority to
adopt any local law needed for “the effective operation of government as to local
affairs.”154 However, there is a long list of restrictions to local control, and local
laws may be invalidated if they are preempted by a state law.155 Critics assert that
the Indiana General Assembly has not honored our Home Rule statute because
legislators have continuously preempted local government power.156 

PL 180 is another example of state preemption which undercuts the historical
purpose of Home Rule because the final adoption authority of building codes is
commonly left to local governments.157 Interestingly, while PL 180 includes a
provision for control of vehicles, much of PL 180 controls building codes and the
energy sources used in buildings, but the law was not placed in Indiana’s
Administrative Code where Indiana’s minimum building codes are located.158

Further, Indiana sets statewide minimum building codes but leaves control of

148. Susan Barnhizer Rivas, The Indiana Home Rule Act: A Second Chance for Local Self-

Government, 16 IND. L. REV. 677, 704 (1983).

149. Id. 

150. David J. Barron, Reclaiming Home Rule, 116 HARV. L. REV. 2255, 2293 (2003); see also

Mandelker et. al, supra note 145, at 107. 

151. Rivas, supra note 148.

152. Id. 

153. IND. CODE § 36-1-3-1 (2022); see also Home Rule in the Midwest, supra note 143

(describing Indiana’s Home Rule Act). 

154. IND. CODE § 36-2-3-2 (2022).

155. IND. CODE §§ 36-1-3-8,5 (2022).

156. Some other issues preempted by the Indiana General Assembly are plastic bag bans,

setting of local minimum wages, regulation of housing and agricultural operations, worker

schedules, and “good neighbor” ordinances. See Joshua Claybourn, Claybourn: In Defense of

Hoosier Home Rule, INDIANAPOLIS STAR (May 7, 2017), https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/

2017/05/07/claybourn-defense-hoosier-home-rule/101289696/ [https://perma.cc/ME7D-P4HS]. 

157. Rossberg & Leon, supra note 11. 

158. Indiana’s minimum building codes are located in Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative

Code. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 221

building code adoption and enforcement to individual cities and towns.159 In fact,
many Indiana counties and cities have adopted their own building codes in their
local laws.160 PL 180’s placement in Indiana’s Home Rule statute, instead of our
Administrative Code, reveals that Rep. Pressel and the legislators who passed the
law were seeking control through preemption, not public safety through building
code requirements. PL 180 is an example of the “odious” nature of state control
that the Home Rule reformers worked against: a law which takes power from
local governments and gives it to private companies, at the expense of individual
residents and communities.161 

IV. LEGAL SOLUTIONS TO PL 180

The Indiana General Assembly must repeal or place a sunset provision upon
PL 180. A sunset provision would terminate the law at a certain point chosen by
the legislature, potentially because PL 180 is not actually a pandemic protection,
because fossil fuel powered energy source prices will become increasingly high,
or because climate change will become more destructive to our built environment
– all reasons that undermine PL 180’s purported purpose. However, as the effects
of climate change command a more urgent response and negatively affect our
physical, economic, and environmental health, Hoosiers cannot wait for the
Indiana General Assembly to repeal or place a termination point on the law. 

Hoosier lawyers must instead challenge PL 180. An opportunity to challenge
the law as unconstitutional may lie in the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the
Indiana Constitution: “The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or
class of citizens, privileges or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not
equally belong to all citizens.”162 In Collins v. Day, the Indiana Supreme Court
enumerated the history of Article 1, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution as well
as the test to determine whether the state legislature has violated the clause.163 

Framers of the Indiana Constitution included the Privileges and Immunities

159. Indiana Building Code, Permit, and Licensing Information, PERMIT PLACE (Jan. 11,

2023), https://permitplace.com/state/indiana-permit-building-code-and-licensing-

information/#:~:text=Indiana%20state%20wide%20building%20codes,without%20plan%20revi

ew%20or%20inspection [https://perma.cc/FSP3-72GD]. 

160. Some examples of Indiana municipal building codes are: The Consolidated City of

Indianapolis’ municipal building code, see Building Standards and Procedures, CITY OF

INDIANAPOLIS, https://www.indy.gov/activity/building-standards-and-procedures [https://perma.cc/

Z5PG-AKK6] (last visited Mar. 18, 2023); Richmond, IN’s municipal building code, see Richmond

City Code, Title XV, Ch. 150 (2021) [https://perma.cc/76DA-UUAH]; Allen County, IN created

a Building Department to enforce their local building code, which was enacted for the “protection

of life, limb, health, environment, public safety and welfare, and for the conservation of energy,”

see Building Department, ALLEN CNTY., IND., https://www.allencounty.us/building-department

[https://perma.cc/XC69-234A] (last visited Mar. 18, 2023).

161. Barron, supra note 148. 

162. IND. CONST. art. 1§, 23.

163. Collins v. Day, 644 N.E.2d 72 (Ind. 1994).



222 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

clause specifically to prohibit the legislature from giving favors or immunities
involving the state’s participation in commercial enterprises.164 The clause was
first discussed during the constitutional convention which met in late 1850 and
early 1851, when the state had become “bankrupt” after issuing bonds that had
greatly depreciated and “utterly ruined” the state’s credit after the public works
programs they were intended to finance had been left uncompleted.165 The state
then authorized private companies to finish the projects, issuing more bonds and
levying taxes for counties, which caused “heavy and onerous debts” to many
counties.166 One month before he introduced Section 23, Monroe County delegate
Daniel Read asserted:

Money making is not the business of the State . . . . If she sells out a
monopoly for a bonus, the robbery upon the citizens is ordinarily still
worse, as being paid for and sanctified by a right purchased from
government. If the State becomes a partner with a few of her citizens, to
the exclusion of others, offering the same terms, it is still a most odious
and anti-republican principle . . . .167

The Indiana Supreme Court found that during the years following the
ratification of the 1851 Indiana Constitution, “Section 23 was often applied to
invalidate enactments which, rather than granting special privileges, imposed
special burdens.”168 Through a consideration of caselaw applying Section 23, the
court found that no cases have declined to apply the section just because a statute
created a special burden rather than a special privilege — this is because “implicit
in an enactment that imposes an unequal burden is the grant of a special privilege
or immunity to persons or classes exempted from the new burden.”169

Collins enumerates a test based on two requirements for statutes that grant
unequal privileges or immunities to differing classes. First, the disparate
treatment accorded by the statute must be reasonably related to inherent
characteristics which distinguish the unequally treated classes.170 The distinctions
must involve something more than characteristics which serve to divide or
identify the class; instead, there must be inherent differences in situations related
to the subject matter of the statute which require, necessitate, or make expedient
different or exclusive legislation with respect to the members of the class.171

Second, the preferential treatment must be uniformly applicable and equally
available to all persons similarly situated.172 This prong of the Collins test
requires that “any privileged classification must be open to all persons who share

164. Id. at 77.

165. Id. at 76. 

166. Id. (quoting Lafayette, M., B. R.R. Co. v. Geiger, 34 Ind, 185, 206 (Ind. 1870)). 

167. Id. 

168. Id. at 77 (emphasis added). 

169. Id. 

170. Id. at 80.

171. Id. at 78. 

172. Id. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 223

the characteristics which distinguish and justify the classification.”173 The court
must give substantial deference to the legislature and balance the competing
interests involved.174 The burden of proof is upon the challenger “to negative
every conceivable basis” which could support the classification.175

In Collins, a farm worker who broke his leg while working was denied
worker’s compensation because his employer had not agreed to provide worker’s
compensation coverage under the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act. The Act,
enacted in 1915, explicitly excluded “farm or agricultural employees” from its
coverage, and allowed those employers to choose whether or not they wanted to
provide worker’s compensation to their employees.176 The farm worker brought
a Section 23 claim, contending that the agricultural exemption extended to a
“special class of employers an immunity denied to the general class of
employers.”177 He also contended that the option for agricultural employers to be
covered by or exempt from the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act was a
privilege denied to both a class of agricultural employees and to the general class
of Indiana employers.178

The court found that the inherent characteristics between the agricultural
employees and employers and the general class of employers were reasonably
related to the Act’s exemption.179 The court also found that the exemption from
worker’s compensation for agricultural employees was “uniformly applicable and
equally available to all persons who are or may become agricultural
employers.”180 

PL 180 creates a classification between building materials and appliances
based on their energy source; the law protects non-energy saving components but
does not protect energy-saving components. In granting a protective privilege to
conventional materials and natural gas-powered appliances by creating a space
where they may always be employed, the law places a burden on green building
materials and electric powered appliances by allowing space for them to be
banned. Consequently, the law creates security for companies which use
conventional materials or implement natural gas-powered appliances, while
creating a vulnerability for companies which implement green building practices

173. Id. at 79. 

174. Id. at 79-80. 

175. Id. at 80 (quoting Johnson v. St. Vincent Hosp., 273 Ind. 374, 392 (Ind. 1980)).

176. Id. at 73; see also Indiana Worker’s Compensation Insurance, HARTFORD INS. GRP.,

https://www.thehartford.com/workers-compensation/indiana#:~:text=Indiana%20Workers'%20

Compensation%20Act,Act%20of%20Indiana%20in%201915.&text=The%20Act%20created%

20a%20workers,recover%20and%20return%20to%20work  [https://perma.cc/V5K5-PGHD] (last

visited Mar. 22, 2023) (describing the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act). 

177. Collins, 664 N.E.2d at 74. 

178. Id. (Collins also asserted that the Indiana Supreme Court should apply the Fourteenth

Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to his case, which the court declined to do, finding that

Section 23 should be given independent interpretation.).  

179. Id. at 81. 

180. Id. at 82.



224 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

and electric appliances. Further, PL 180 creates a protected industry which
incentivizes companies to manufacture and use the protected materials and
appliances, creating an imbalance in the construction and appliance market.
Producers are more likely to manufacture goods that are inherently protected than
those that are vulnerable or less likely to be used.

Several Indiana construction companies specialize in green building: Lancia
Homes, GH Homes, Fall Creek Homes, Cedar Street Builders, and Commodore
Homes.181 These companies constitute a group of possible petitioners similarly
situated to the protected construction companies, that endure a burden from PL
180 because of the security given to conventional construction companies that is
denied to them. These companies are at risk to be banned from building in local
communities, while other companies using conventional materials are not. 

A petitioner must first demonstrate that the vulnerability that PL 180 creates
for green construction companies and electric appliances is not reasonably related
to the inherent characteristics of the class distinctions. There are not inherent
differences in the construction and energy sources classified by PL 180 that
require exclusive legislation. Conventional and green construction companies do
the same things – build or retrofit structures. While green construction employees
require different levels of training than conventional construction employees,
extra training is counterbalanced with the protection and durability it ultimately
provides to Hoosiers and Indiana communities from the effects of climate change.
If construction companies take extra time or expense to learn to use green
technologies and materials, their construction will last longer and be more
protective. Further, unlike the difficulty that agricultural employers face in
passing additional costs to consumers, both conventional and green construction
companies directly pass their costs to property buyers. 

Similarly, natural gas and electricity producers do the same thing – power
appliances. PL 180 is an unnecessary preventative measure for a feared natural
gas ban which no Indiana cities have attempted.182 In the broader national
conversation about natural gas bans, states are not likely to apply the ban to
homes already using natural gas appliances; they would only apply the ban to
appliances in newly built homes.183  Of course, because no Indiana cities have
attempted to ban natural gas-powered appliances, we do not know what a
potential Indiana ban would entail. Preventative legislation like PL 180 does not
demonstrate any need for exclusive legislation or classification between energy
sources that are both currently in use without any limitation. 

Second, a petitioner must show that the preferential treatment PL 180 creates

181. The Top 7 Sustainable Green Home Builders in Indiana, ATTAINABLE HOME (Mar. 26,

2022), https://www.attainablehome.com/the-top-7-green-home-builders-in-indiana/

[https://perma.cc/YHJ9-Q6AP]. 

182. Id.  

183. Ty Roush, U.S. Regulators and State Lawmakers Consider Banning Natural Gas

Stoves–Here’s Why, FORBES (Jan. 11, 2023), https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/01/11/

us-regulators-and-state-lawmakers-consider-banning-gas-stoves-heres-why/?sh=386078204e49

[https://perma.cc/FZ7F-BVBT]. 



2024] HOW OUR BUILDINGS SHAPE US 225

is not uniformly applicable to all persons similarly situated. The protective
privilege that PL 180 provides to conventional construction companies and
natural gas-powered appliances is not open to companies which use green
materials or implement electric appliances. 

Finally, a petitioner must negate every “conceivable basis” for the law
because the court will show substantial deference to the legislature.184 The known
reasons behind the passage of the law are maintaining a “cheaper” form of energy
for Hoosiers during the Covid-19 Pandemic and preventative protections for
natural gas.185 Neither of these points create a reasonable basis for a protective
classification for one group of construction companies or type of appliance over
the other. 

Rep. Pressel’s assertion that natural gas-powered appliances are cheaper for
Hoosiers is becoming increasingly untrue as natural gas becomes more scare and
supply becomes limited through world events like the Russia/Ukraine war.186

Additionally, the State of Indiana ended its public health emergency status
resulting from the Covid-19 Pandemic on March 3, 2022.187 If PL 180 is a law to
protect Hoosiers during the Covid-19 Pandemic, then it should have been a
temporary measure which ended with the conclusion of the public emergency
status, like rental assistance or increased SNAP benefits.188 The preventative
measure taken through PL 180 because of the fear of the legislature with close
ties to natural gas and conventional construction companies do not constitute a
reasonable basis to offer them protection while creating a vulnerability for others.

Finally, Roger Horner offers a note for Hoosier lawyers filing environmental
claims.189 Rule 2.1 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct advises: “in
rendering advice, a lawyer may refer not only to law but to other considerations
such as moral, economic, social, and political factors that may be relevant to the
client’s situation.”190 The legislative history and the substance of PL 180 provides
moral, political, economic, environmental, and social arguments for Hoosiers and
Indiana communities. PL 180 is an ethically questionable law because our
legislature has chosen to support gas and construction companies at the expense
of Indiana residents, and further, Rep. Pressel used his platform as an elected
legislator to protect his business instead of his constituents. The law imposes a
burden to communities’ financial health by forcing Hoosiers to pay higher utility
bills and higher insurance rates and decreases property values. Hoosiers will

184. Collins, supra note 163 at 79.

185. Sarah Bowman & London Gibson, Banning Natural Gas Would Cut Emissions. But

Lawmakers Don’t Want That Happening in Indiana., INDIANAPOLIS STAR (Mar. 3, 2021),

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2021/03/03/indiana-general-assembly-tries-stop-

cities-banning-natural-gas/4540329001/ [https://perma.cc/Y724-JBWC].

186. Knakmuhs, supra note 108.

187. See supra text accompanying note 76.

188. Bowman and Gibson, supra note 185. 

189. Roger Horner, Saving the World: How Municipal Lawyers Can Help in the Fight Against

Climate Change, MUN. LAW. 15, 35 (Jan 2023). 

190. Id. at 15; see also Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 2.1, Cmt. 2 (2023).



226 INDIANA HEALTH LAW REVIEW [Vol. 21:199

continue to suffer from the negative effects to their health and their environment
from GHG emissions from conventional building infrastructure. Finally, PL 180
decreases our ability to survive and bounce back from the effects of climate
change. Indiana residents will lose friends and family members — unnecessarily
— without the ability for local governments to reach their full potential to protect
their residents, especially in communities which are already the most vulnerable.
These are all arguments that Hoosier lawyers should consider when challenging
PL 180. 

V. CONCLUSION

Building codes were enacted to provide safety for the public as they engaged
with their built environments.191 Green building codes expand upon the historical
purpose of conventional building codes by reflecting society’s increasing need for
protection and resilience in the face of the worsening effects of climate change.192

Extreme temperatures, flooding, severe storms, and disease-spreading mosquito
populations are all necessary reasons to adopt green building codes, just as the
1871 Great Chicago Fire and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake caused state
legislators to act for the protection of their residents. The Indiana General
Assembly must allow local Indiana governments to require green building codes
in order to reduce the effects of a warming climate in their own localities and
protect Hoosiers’ lives. Indiana’s built environments must reflect trust that our
legislature is enacting laws for our benefit and protection, not for private
companies. Winston Churchill was not likely thinking about climate change when
he asserted that our buildings symbolize the strength of our democratic system,
but his assertion that our buildings shape our ability to trust that our leaders will
protect us still applies today.

191. Cocke, supra note 7. 

192. Green Building Standards, supra note 22.