Ohio could miss out on millions in federal stimulus money unless the state quickly adopts building codes with stricter energy-efficiency requirements, environmentalists warned yesterday.

But Gov. Ted Strickland has pledged to have the standards in place within eight years and says the money is safe, according to his office. The feds agree.

Home builders say Ohio should not rush to adopt codes that could cost buyers as much as $5,000 per new home.

At issue is $96 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program. Among other things, states can use it to educate people about ways to save energy, offer public and nonprofit agencies incentives to make their buildings more efficient, and audit buildings for energy efficiency.

Department of Energy spokeswoman Jen Stutsman said a pledge to enact the tougher building codes within the next eight years that Strickland made in a letter on March 23 is all that's needed.

"Ohio has met the requirements for moving forward," Stutsman said.

The Department of Energy plans to give Ohio the entire $96 million well before the eight-year deadline, Stutsman said. That means the entire amount could have been spent before the state changes the codes.

The federal stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed in February requires that governors assure the Department of Energy that their states plan to adopt the latest energy-efficient building codes, or their equivalent, within the next eight years.

Strickland has done that, said Amanda Wurst, the governor's spokeswoman.

In the meantime, Wurst said, the state will receive 10 percent of the money immediately and 40 percent more once its formal application is in. The remaining 50 percent will become available in about a year, after the state demonstrates that it has spent the first half.

Some environmental groups see things differently.

Jen Miller, conservation coordinator for the Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club, said Department of Energy officials told her they intend to withhold 60 percent of the State Energy Program money -- $57.6 million, in Ohio's case -- until the updated codes are in place.

Adopting the 2009 version of the International Energy Conservation Code throughout the United States would save enough energy in the first year to power 19 million homes for a year, according to a report by another environmental group, Environment Ohio, released this morning.

The 2009 standards are 30 percent more efficient than the 2003 conservation standards Ohio now uses, the group says.

Environment Ohio says it wants the state to continue to strengthen building codes every few years with a goal of eventually requiring zero-emission buildings. That means they use no more energy than they can cleanly produce.

But Vince Squillace, executive vice president of the Ohio Home Builders Association, said the 2009 standard unfairly places more of a burden on builders in northern climates. It requires more insulation, tighter windows and more-efficient furnaces in regions north of Cincinnati.

He said the stimulus bill gives the state eight years to come up with a fair, equivalent standard to the 2009 code and doesn't allow a delay in releasing the money.

"The funds were never in jeopardy," he said.

Squillace said the 2009 building codes would cost Ohio homebuyers.

"The lowest I've heard would be 1 percent of the total construction cost, and that's from the environmental groups," he said. "Our folks are figuring $2,000 to $5,000 per house."

Miller of the Sierra Club said the 1 percent figure is correct -- about $1,000 on a $100,000 home. But, she said, homeowners would save about $250 per year on energy costs at today's rates.

Dispatch reporter Spencer Hunt contributed to this story.

dcaruso@dispatch.com