I have been given the task of figuring out what code provisions can be amended out in an effort to "break down the barriers of affordable housing" as one council member stated. The consultants that were hired to get paid a bunch of money from the City to tell us where we can begin to get rid of the barriers immediately went to the fire sprinkler requirements. The Fire Marshal and I wholeheartedly disagreed. We both think that we should take a hard look at the energy code requirements instead. For our area it comes down to getting rid of overkill high R-values that basically dictate rigid and spray foam plastics (this along with todays light weight construction materials consisting of a bunch of "was wood" make sprinklers even more important!), blower door testing, mandatory whole house mechanical ventilation, etc. We believe that these could all be ways to reduce the expense of new construction. We would rather see a reduction of the requirements of a non- life safety "green" happy feel good code than take away automatic fire sprinklers to save money instead of saving lives. Thoughts?