ICC Analysis: ICC Votes for Significant Efficiency Boost in 2009 IECC
With support from over 60% of ICC members, the soon-to-be-published 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) will a produce a significant boost in new home energy efficiency significantly over its 2006 counterpart. Although it won’t reach the 30% improvement sought by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition, an ICF analysis estimates that homes built to the 2009 IECC standards will save 12.2% under the simple “prescriptive” method and could save 14.7% or more using the more complicated “performance-based” method.
"The Thirty Percent Solution"
An ongoing, comprehensive effort to boost the efficiency of America’s model energy code by 30%
A clear majority of ICC members recently embraced the energy efficiency slate put before them by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition, the Northwest Codes Group, the US Department of Energy and others. The result was at least a 12.2% boost in energy efficiency in the 2009 IECC.
ICC’s 2009-2010 Code Development Cycle kicks off this April, and there’s more to do. Specifically, EECC will focus on winning adoption of the 17.8% left in our 30% goal. In coming months, we’ll develop a new, comprehensive version of “The30% Solution” and launch the outreach and education effort to build support for its adoption by the ICC in May 2010.
Homes and commercial buildings consume almost half of America’s energy and must play a significant role in any successful effort to improve our nation’s energy efficiency. “The 30% Solution” before the International Code Council is an ambitious, yet achievable and affordable proposal to reduce wasted energy from our new homes.
Investments in more efficient homes today will pay myriad personal and societal dividends in the future and give homeowners greater certainty and control over their future energy budgets.
