On April 20th, the Senate passed a bipartisan S. 2012, which sponsors hope will become the first broad energy bill in almost a decade. In addition to electric grid modernization, the Energy Policy Modernization Act supports energy efficiency in buildings. It directs the Secretary of Energy to “encourage and support the adoption of building energy codes…that meet or exceed the model building energy codes, or achieve equivalent or greater savings, and support full compliance with the s...
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Policy
New Report Compares Cost-Effectiveness Methodologies As Congress Considers Requirements For Energy Code Updates
A significant proposal before Congress would require proposed energy code changes to be evaluated for their cost-effectiveness prior to inclusion in a code. The proposal before Congress designates simple payback as the principal basis for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of proposed energy code changes, but two other methods for determining cost-effectiveness are Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Mortgage Cash-Flow (MCF). When assessing efficiency measures, it is important to include energy and cash sa...
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My View: Utah Needs New Energy Codes That Make Buildings, Homes More Efficient
By David Brems and Kevin Emerson via Deseret News
Air pollution is a top concern for Utah citizens. So is financial stability. Improving our air quality while saving money for Utahns is a win-win opportunity. This summer, decision-makers will be voting whether or not to adopt up-to-date building energy codes that will help new homes and buildings constructed in Utah cut energy waste, lower air pollution and reduce Utahns’ energy bills.
The average Utah home wastes far too much energy becau...
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New Calculator Tool Empowers States To Use Building Energy Codes To Comply With The Clean Power Plan
MEDIA CONTACT:
William D. Fay; bfay@ase.org; 202-530-2214
CARBON REDUCTIONS A SIGNIFICANT BY-PRODUCT OF EFFECTIVE ENERGY CODES THAT ALSO SAVE BUILDING AND HOMEOWNERS MONEY
Washington, D.C., May 12, 2015 – Building energy codes – which have the potential to cut tens of thousands of dollars from the utility bills of home and commercial building owners – also have an interesting by-product: they can reduce hundreds of millions of metric tons of CO2.
Today, the Alliance to Save E...
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New Homes Must Meet 2009 IECC to Qualify For Federal Mortgage Insurance
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined last week that the adoption of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for single family homes and the 2007 edition of ASHRAE 90.1 for multifamily buildings will have zero negative impact on the affordability and availability of certain HUD- and USDA-assisted housing, specified in section 481 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). 2009 IECC and A...
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Less Than 100 Days To Comment On EPA’s Clean Power Plan
In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a historic plan under the Clean Air Act’s Section 111(d) to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the nation’s largest source: existing power plants. Because 71 percent of America’s electricity is consumed by residential and commercial buildings, building energy codes – which have proven to be among the most cost effective measures to reduce carbon emissions – should be a prominent p...
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The Energy Productivity Innovation Challenge Can Do Better By Codes
By Cosimina Panetti
If you were going to install a renewable energy system on your house, you would first make sure your house was as energy efficient as possible. At minimum, you would want your house to meet current model energy codes and you would probably go above and beyond the code. If you were the federal government providing incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy systems to states, wouldn’t you expect that states adopt a minimum energy efficiency code? And yet the fe...
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Code Officials Defeat Proposals To Rollback Historic Efficiency Gains In America’s Model Energy Code
Atlantic City, N.J., October 8, 2013 – Sound energy policy prevailed as local and state governmental officials rejected dozens of builder-sponsored home efficiency rollback proposals in a three-day marathon meeting convened by the International Code Council (ICC) to develop the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).
“Today was a victory for America’s homebuyers,” said Bill Fay, Executive Director of the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC). “By dismi...
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2013 Mayors Resolution Supports Stronger 2015 IECC
By William D. Fay, Executive Director, Energy Efficient Codes Coalition
With hard-fought efficiency gains at stake, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) voted unanimously to encourage municipal support for all eligible code officials to attend the ICC’s Final Action Hearings this October in Atlantic City to support continued efficiency gains for America’s model energy code, the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The local and state code and other officials voting at the h...
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Alliance Announces SEEA’s ‘Graduation’ Into Standalone Entity
Alliance to Save Energy Press Release
Washington, D.C., May 20, 2013 - Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan announced that the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA), the Alliance’s wholly-owned subsidiary created to advance energy efficiency in the Southeast, will become a standalone entity on January 1, 2014. Callahan made the announcement about the future of SEEA during the Alliance’s EE Global Forum held in Washington, DC.
“When the Alliance started SEEA i...
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