This Program In a Box offers ideas on how State Energy Offices can utilize federal funding for residential energy code compliance field studies. This is a resource for creating a request for proposals, developing methodology, and implementing studies. Section 40511 of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $225 million for competitive grants to implement energy codes.
Benefits for States that Conduct Energy Code Compliance Field Studies
- Understanding what percentage of buildings are out of compliance can be used to improve training for building officials, home builders, home energy raters, and construction trades workers.
- Studies enable State Energy Offices to determine the compliance rate, and specific compliance issues.
- Up to date compliance data is valuable. It can serve as a basis to:
- Target training.
- Inform development of new codes and implementation decisions.
- Promote building safety, efficiency and occupant health.
- Design future workforce development programs.
- A consistent methodology for conducting energy code field studies will improve data accuracy and reduce the amount of work needed to complete future studies and allow tracking over time.
- Setting up a data tracking system will reduce the administrative burden for both the municipalities and the State Energy Office.
How Communities Benefit from State Energy Offices Conducting Energy Code Compliance Field Studies
- Conducting a baseline of energy use and code compliance of a statistic sample of residential buildings allows communities to tailor training and outreach to improve compliance.
- In this set-up, the State Energy Office provides resource-scarce communities expertise and financial support for designing and executing successful code studies.
Examples Used to Develop This Program In a Box
Thank you to the team members at Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and the Department of Energy who generously shared their knowledge and experiences for this Energy Code Compliance Field Studies Program In a Box.
This Program In a Box draws on experiences from a multi-state study led by the Department of Energy (DOE) beginning in 2014 on energy code compliance. The study was a field-based way of evaluating challenges and opportunities with energy code compliance at the state level. Eight states participated: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Additional states conducted studies based on the DOE methodology including Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Studies are underway in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. This study involved a baseline to evaluate typical energy use in single-family residential buildings. Following the baseline study, education and training and outreach opportunities were identified.
A second study was conducted to evaluate the change in energy use as a result of the education and training efforts.
See the state findings here:
Findings for Original Eight Participating States: | Findings for States Conducting Studies Later Using DOE Methodology |
---|---|
Alabama | Idaho |
Arkansas | Illinois |
Georgia | Michigan |
Kentucky | Missouri |
Maryland | Montana |
North Carolina | Nebraska |
Pennsylvania | Oregon |
Texas | Tennessee |
Virginia | |
West Virginia |
State | Study Date | Project Team | Funding Provided by: |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama | March 2014-May 2014 | Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) Institute for Building Technology and Safety Calhoun Community College Cadmus Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Arkansas | May 2015-October 2015 | Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) Advanced Energy PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Georgia | April 2015-November 2015 | SEEA Southface PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Kentucky | April 2015-August 2015 | Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence (DEDI), Kentucky Circuit Rider, Cadmus PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Maryland | January 2015-July 2015 | Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) Newport Partners Edge Energy PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
North Carolina | January 2015-September 2015 | Appalachian State University Energy Center The Market Edge, LLC reNew Home Above and Beyond Energy MSA Marketing PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Pennsylvania | October 2014-July 2015 | Performance Systems Development (PSD) The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) The Pennsylvania Construction Codes Academy (PCCA) The Pennsylvania Building Officials Conference (PENNBOC) and its local chapters PNNL The Pennsylvania Association of Building Code Officials (PABCO) Lancaster County Code Officials (LanCode) The Pennsylvania Association of Code Officials (PACO) The ICC Liberty Chapter of Philadelphia | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Texas | October 2014-October 2015 | National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER) PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Idaho | January 2018-June 2018 | Idaho’s circuit rider Cadmus The Northwest Energy Efficiency Associate (NEEA) PNNL | NEEA |
Montana | May 2018-September 2018 | NEEA Cadmus PNNL | NEEA |
Oregon | November 2019-Febraury 2020 | TRC NEEA PNNL | NEEA |
Tennessee | September 2017-July 2018 | SEEA Southface PNNL | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |
Virginia | August 2017-May 2018 | SEEA Viridiant Conway Energy GCI Energy Consultants Think Little Ecovative Energy Wheat Energy | DOE Building Energy Codes Program |