DOE Code Change Proposals for the
2009/2010 ICC Code Development Cycle

The U.S. Department of Energy has submitted 56 code change proposals for the International Code Council's (ICC) Code Development Cycle that will produce the 2012 I-codes. 32 of the proposals are primarily related to commercial buildings, 24 are for residential buildings. The proposals are mainly to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) though most of the residential proposals also apply to Chapter 11 of the International Residential Code (IRC).

The central theme of the DOE proposals is to improve energy efficiency. Additionally, for commercial buildings DOE is attempting to make the IECC more consistent with ASHRAE Standard 90.1. Finally, some proposals are not intended to change requirements but rather improve the usability of the codes, fix wording, correct errors, etc.

DOE invited discussion on these proposals and on preparations for the ICC code hearings that took place from October 24 through November 11, 2009 in Baltimore.

The proposals are available for download in ZIP file format. One for residential (ZIP 8.6 MB) and one new¹ for commercial (ZIP 3.1 MB). All proposals to the I-codes will be officially published later this Summer on the ICC web site: www.iccsafe.org/cs/codes/2009-10cycle/index.html.

The joint US DOE/New Buildings Institute/American Institute of Architects proposal is available for download in ZIP file format (ZIP 320 KB).

If you have thoughts or suggestions on DOE's proposals or on energy efficiency codes in general, please contact Ronald Majette.

Thank you for your interest in DOE's ongoing efforts to improve national energy codes.

¹ Twenty-two of DOE's individual proposals were merged into a joint DOE/NBI/AIA proposal.