Residential and Commercial Sector Energy Code Adoption and Compliance Rates

Release Date: November 2, 2017

Introduction

Building energy codes cover the building structure , including walls, floors, ceiling insulation, windows, air leakage, and duct leakage. Code adoption and compliance rates affect commercial and residential energy consumption by changing the energy efficiency of a building. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) contracted this report from ICF International, L.L.C. in order to inform modeling and analysis of domestic building energy consumption.  Appliance and equipment standards affecting energy-using items that go into a building are not covered in this report. However, there is some overlap with building codes, particularly in lighting. Although building energy codes are adopted at the state and local levels, national model energy codes are developed by two private organizations; the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the International Code Council. ASHRAE develops model commercial energy codes and the International Code Council develops the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) that contains model building energy codes for commercial and residential buildings.

The code adoption rate describes the percentage of states in a given U.S. Census division that have adopted a baseline energy code, for residential or commercial buildings, over time. Most states use a version of the ASHRAE or IECC model codes without amendments. Some states have no energy codes, and other states have modified the model codes.

The code compliance rate describes the percentage of new builds in a given U.S. Census division that fully comply with a stated building energy code. Compliance is calculated at the state level by the average percent of energy code requirements met and weighted by energy consumption.  Enforcement of building energy codes is traditionally done at the local level where plans are typically reviewed before construction and field inspections are conducted during and after construction.

As part of its Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), EIA models the consumption of energy in the residential and commercial sectors. EIA’s National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) uses building code adoption rates as part of the assumptions for the Residential and Commercial building sectors. In both the Residential and Commercial models, shell efficiency of a building envelope is an important determinant of the heating and cooling loads for each type of building. Improvements in the heating and cooling loads of buildings reduce the amount of energy needed for these buildings.  Also, purchasing decisions for new heating and cooling technologies take into account the heating and cooling loads.

The analysis from this report estimates that states will reach 100% adoption with 2009 IECC (or equivalent) codes by 2017 (Figure 2) and 100% adoption with ASHRAE 90.1-2007 (or equivalent) codes by 2022 (Figure 3) .  The analysis estimates states will reach 90% compliance with 2009 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2007 (or equivalent) by 2025 (Figure 4 & 5).

When referencing the contract report in the Appendix, it should be cited as a report by ICF International, L.L.C. prepared for the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

 

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