DOE Building Energy Codes News Feeds

The International Code Council and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers have published a new book that includes both the 2009 IECC and ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007. The new book was created as a result of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provisions requiring adoption of the most advanced energy codes and standards, with a goal of achieving 90 percent compliance with both within eight years.

Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and the co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics gave a lecture entitled "The energy problem and the interplay between basic and applied research"on May 12, 2009 at MIT. A link to this lecture was recently posted on the www.energycodes.gov website.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2009 Jeffrey A. Johnson Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Building Energy Codes and Performance. This award recognizes a leader or a team in the United States (US Territories included) for sustained service of the highest caliber in the pursuit of energy efficiency goals.

This 60-minute live webcast, sponsored by DOE will include an overview of the residential requirements of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code. The presentation will be followed by a live 30-minute QandA session. Registration is now open.

The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has approved a comprehensive clean energy bill that addresses promotion of renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency across all economic sectors, controlling greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing America's energy independence, and creating green jobs. The American Clean Energy and Security Act--widely supported across the community of energy stakeholders--was passed by a vote of 33-25. Among its provisions is an aggressive policy for strengthening and nationwide implementation of building energy codes.

If passed, a new bill in North Carolina will require adoption of the most stringent building energy codes and standards by January of next year. The requirement would make the 2009 IECC the minimum standard for both commercial and residential new construction.

A proposed Nevada bill, which would have required statewide adoption of the most stringent national model energy codes and standards--the 2009 IECC and ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007--has been amended to remove energy code adoption language. The amended bill was signed into law on May 30.

A public comment period has opened on proposed revisions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's residential Energy Star guidelines. Referred to as Energy Star 2011, the guidelines include several new requirements which focus on installation of high-efficiency equipment and give precedence to state energy codes when the state code is more stringent than Energy Star, among other proposed changes.

A new guide has been published which breaks down the various programs and funding opportunities being made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding slated for the energy sector. Included is funding for energy efficiency grants, smart grid funding, transportation funding, and clean energy tax incentives.

A new bill is awaiting approval by the North Carolina Senate Committee on Commerce. The bill would create a Residential Building Code Council and North Carolina Residential Building Code.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently joined several world leaders in forming an international partnership in the interest of improving energy savings and efficiency around the world. The building sector is one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and will be primary among the group's selected tasks.

REScheck version 4.2.2 updates the Wisconsin state code to be based on 2006 IECC with amendments relevant to the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code. This version has a weather location mapping for Nederland, CO to be similar to Grand Lake, CO.

COMcheck version 3.6.1 removes Massachusetts as a customized state code and redirects users to the 2006 IECC code to show compliance in Massachusetts locations. Projects located in Chicago, IL are redirected to comply with 2006 IECC as well. The mechanical system inputs have been extensively redesigned so that numeric inputs are specified. A modification to the calculations that consider projection factors credit under the 2004 and 2006 IECC codes were made to control an overcounting of their influence.

The April 2009 publication of the Setting the Standard Newsletter is now available.

New Jersey will now receive over $75 million more for energy efficiency and conservation efforts under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, bringing its grand total to over $192 million. Meanwhile, states including New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina are updating their building energy codes to help qualify them for ARRA funding.

A new research report forecasts huge opportunity in the commercial retrofit market, estimating a value of $400 billion over the next several years. Although the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide significant funding for retrofitting Federal buildings, the commercial building market is huge and represents substantial opportunity to impact energy efficiency.

ASHRAE members are invited to apply for a fellowship with the Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program. The fellowship is sponsored by ASHRAE, will last 12-18 months and will involve assisting with energy code deployment and compliance efforts.

The nation's first green building standard began its third public review this month, with a new and improved draft that represents increased energy savings over the previous draft, as well as over ASHRAE Standard 90.1. The comment period ends June 15.

New bills from the Washington state legislature will require homes and buildings to consume 70 percent less annual aggregate energy under 2031 state building energy codes than under the 2006 state codes. In developing a path toward achieving the goal, the state building code council will consider adopting the IECC in place of the existing state codes.

The Obama Administration recently announced plans to invest $3.2 billion in stimulus funds to support the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, which will provide grants to cities, counties, states, territories, and tribes for energy conservation projects. The funds will pay for energy audits, building retrofits, and development and implementation of more stringent building codes, among other activities.