Energy

Written by R. Kirk Johnson, AIA, LEED AP

Section 201 Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes amends Section 304 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6833) raising the energy efficiency targets for buildings and creating a Federal mandate for energy reduction.  Under the amended Section 304, the new code, if approved by legislation, states the following:

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“Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), the national building code energy efficiency target for the national average percentage improvement of a building’s energy performance when built to a code meeting the target shall be—

•    ‘‘(A) effective on the date of enactment of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, 30 percent reduction in energy use relative to a comparable building constructed in compliance with the baseline code;

•    ‘‘(B) effective January 1, 2014, for residential buildings, and January 1, 2015, for commercial buildings, 50 percent reduction in energy use relative to the baseline code; and

•    ‘‘(C) effective January 1, 2017, for residential buildings, and January 1, 2018, for commercial buildings, and every 3 years thereafter, respectively, through January 1, 2029, and January 1, 2030, 5 percent additional reduction in energy use relative to the baseline code.”

The baseline regulation code within the provision listed for residential buildings is the 2006 International energy Conservation Code (IECC) published by the International Code Council and for Commercial buildings the baseline code is the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 version.

There are many other elements of the proposed Title II- Energy Efficiency, Section 201, National Energy Code portion of this bill that delineate various protocols, procedures, compliance, enforcement, and evaluation criteria.  All readers are encouraged to read this section to become familiar with the considerations presently before Congress.

Additionally, contained within the proposed legislation are other energy related items such as, building retrofits (Section 202), Building Energy Performance Labeling Program (Section 204), tree planting programs (Section 205), Energy Efficiency for Data Center Buildings (Section 206), Lighting Efficiency Standards (Section 211), Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods (Subtitle H), Energy Savings Performance Contracts, and many supplementary energy and sustainable related items.
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