Building Energy Codes

Energy codes can push the market in powerful ways. Their pervasive influence in the sustainability industry works to promote increased renewable energy production, grid interconnectedness, and housing affordability. With the added benefit that they improve public health, there has never been a more important time to focus on advanced building energy codes than during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

A History of Climate Leadership

In December 2017, NEEP published a revised edition of the Model Progressive Building Energy Codes Policy paper, or as we like to call it, our “energy code bible”. The latest version – a new Building Energy Codes for a Carbon-Constrained Era: A Toolkit of Strategies and Examples paper is divided into two sections.

When people bring up Bigfoot, they often cite evidence that lacks credibility. Even with the lack of tangible, physical proof of Big Foot’s existence, people are still willing to embrace the beast as fact. This is how myths persist. The folklore of Bigfoot has not ceased in recent years, and the same false narratives continue to be passed around the internet.

Myths exist in every facet of our lives. From cryptid creatures like Bigfoot haunting our Pacific Northwest, to the notion that eating before swimming increases risks of muscle cramps, myths permeate our culture.

April showers bring May flowers, particularly in New York where things are certainly sprouting this spring. As winter finally starts turning to spring in the Northeast, everyone begins to notice the trees greening and nature coming to life all around. Nestled in spring is also Earth Day, where we stop to acknowledge the importance of our environment and take action to protect it for generations to come.

Building energy codes are a critical piece of the puzzle in the fight against climate change. Carbon emissions reduction plans must include energy codes that are regularly updated in order to effectively fight climate change.

Renewable energy, like solar and wind, are popular and effective energy sources that will drastically reduce our carbon emissions. They are buzzwords that fill our social media feeds and are sexy alternatives to coal and oil. They also remind us that a world beyond fossil fuels is achievable. But what about energy efficiency?

Since our last update for Highlights in August, the following code adoption progress has occurred:

On December 5, Vermont finalized an update to its Residential and Commercial Building Energy Standards (RBES and CBES), thereby becoming the first state in the country to adopt* a building energy code based on the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (2015 IECC). The 2015 IECC is the newest and most efficient version of the IECC, a model code used by the vast majority of the country (including every state in NEEP’s region).