International Code Council Committee Sets Stage for Landmark Boost in Energy Efficiency of U.S. Homes

October 30, 2009 – The efficiency of America’s model energy code for new home construction (International Energy Conservation Code, or IECC) got a welcome boost at the International Code Council (ICC) Codes Forum hearings in Baltimore this week, where deliberations brought the code closer to 30 percent improvement goals sought by the U.S. Department of Energy and the broad-based Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC). The IECC is the model code recognized in federal law, green building standards and nearly all states.

But the best is yet to come: if ICC’s actions in Baltimore are upheld by the ICC Final Action Hearings in 2010, the code will come close to meeting the 30 percent target included in legislation that has cleared both the full House of Representatives and the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

The IECC committee heard extensive testimony on four comprehensive package proposals, including EECC’s “30Plus” and another from the U.S. Department of Energy. Both of these similar packages focused on readily achievable improvements which would be simple to enforce and generate significant energy cost savings and greater comfort to homeowners.  Independent estimates put the DOE proposal’s savings at 25-30 percent and the savings of “30Plus” at 30-35 percent beyond the 2006 IECC.

Legislation moving through Congress would set a 30 percent code savings target upon enactment and 50 percent savings by the middle of the next decade.

 “America owes a huge debt of gratitude to the IECC Development Committee for elevating energy efficiency to the importance our national energy policy warrants,” said William Fay, executive director of the broad-based EECC.  “By voting for a substantial boost in new home energy efficiency, the committee has confronted one of the last frontiers of wasted energy, a sector using over 20 percent of our nation’s energy and accounting for nearly 20 percent of U.S. manmade greenhouse gases.”

After the IECC hearings, Assistant Secretary for the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Catherine Zoi told ICC’s general membership that the DOE is committed to supporting the development, adoption and compliance of energy codes across the country. Assistant Secretary Zoi commended attendees for the work that has already been done to push the model code while also challenging them to do more. “The Thirty-percent challenge for 2012 – that's very, very exciting. Let me now put it to a bit of a challenge. Let me challenge you to go forth (and) let's push for that 30 percent together."

DOE’s comprehensive package was integral to the progress in Baltimore. “Because the DOE package preceded “30Plus” on the agenda, EECC threw its considerable support behind it,” Fay added.  “After recommending its adoption, the IECC committee then adopted nine individual proposals from EECC that brought the package close to the 30 percent goal.” 

Support for adopting the DOE package, then also adopting the stronger “30Plus” came from:

• U.S. Conference of Mayors Chair Greg Nickels
• New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
• Builders:  Washington, D.C., homebuilder Ethan Landis; New York City green affordable multi-housing developer Carlton Brown, and the Santa Fe area homebuilders
• Low Income and Affordable Housing Advocates including the National Housing Institute
• The National Association of State Energy Officials
• National energy leaders like the Alliance to Save Energy, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, New Buildings Institute and United Nations
• Additional EECC members, including utilities, environmental and energy consumer groups, businesses, labor, regional energy efficiency alliances and others.

Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan praised the IECC Development Committee for its focus on improving new home energy efficiency by 30 percent.  Callahan noted, “The benefits of a 30 percent boost in energy efficiency for both residential and commercial buildings through 2030 are mind-boggling:  cumulative energy savings of at least 3 quadrillion Btu saved nationwide; 150 million metric tons of avoided CO2; and annual homeowner savings of $25 billion from reducing wasted energy.”

The IECC Development Committee’s recommendations will be submitted to the ICC’s Final Action Hearings next year where they will be voted on by its membership, comprised of government officials that administer, adopt or enforce U.S. building codes.