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Building Energy Codes Program

State Compliance Evaluation Procedures


The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Building Energy Codes Program (BECP) is developing procedures and tools for measuring and reporting compliance with building energy codes in each of the states. Two drafts of a State Compliance Evaluation ("Strawman") document were developed and made available to stakeholders for their review and feedback in March and June 2009. The feedback from the second draft was consolidated, and resulted in 14 major topics. For many of these topics, the feedback was not unanimous and often contained opposing views. In other cases the feedback was in the form of questions asking for further clarification. All topics will be addressed by the BECP through "topic briefs," with an explanation of how the topic will be addressed in the materials and protocols being developed. As the topic briefs become available, they will be added to this page. We welcome feedback on either the Strawman Rev. 2 document, or any of the topic briefs published on this page.

  1. Measuring 90% Compliance. A compliance rate of 90% can be determined by either of two very different approaches: 1) an entire building passes or fails the code requirements and 90% of the buildings pass, or 2) a percent compliance is assigned to each building based on the number of code requirements met and the average building compliance is 90%. This brief discusses and justifies the recommended approach. [Updated 12/1/2009]
  2. Sample Size. How will a statistically valid sample size be established and what process would be available for generating this sample? What populations will be sampled? How many buildings and what types of buildings will be included in each sample? [Updated 12/1/2009]
  3. Onsite Compliance Evaluations. This topic brief discusses various approaches to conducting the onsite evaluations, who should perform the evaluations (jurisdictional staff vs. third-party evaluators), what training and/or certification the evaluators should receive, and how this workforce be created, funded, and sustained? [Updated 12/4/2009]
  4. Above-Code Buildings. This topic brief responds to suggestions that above-code buildings could be used to offset non-compliant buildings in deriving an overall state compliance metric. Also addressed is the inclusion of above-code programs in this effort. [Updated 12/1/2009]
  5. Sample Distribution and Make-Up. How will a statistically valid sample size be established and what process would be available for generating this sample? What populations will be sampled? How many buildings and what types of buildings will be included in each sample? What provisions will exist that account for rejection? [Updated 12/1/2009]
  6. Evaluation Checklists. Will the checklists include all code requirements or a subset? What strata will be supported by the checklists (e.g. different building occupancies and uses, renovations vs. new construction)? How will the checklists address code requirements only visible during certain phases of building construction? How will the checklists support various compliance approaches (prescriptive, trade-off, performance)? Will checklists capture values corresponding to code requirements, as opposed to simply assigning a pass/fail to each measure. [Updated 12/1/2009]
  7. Compliance Roadmap. A roadmap for addressing the Recovery Act legislation in concert with other more traditional and ongoing programs. Discusses methods to enhance the level of compliance through self-assessment and educational and outreach programs. [Posted 12/17/2009]
  8. Renovations. A methodology for establishing the sample size and distribution of existing commercial building renovations and existing residential building renovations. [Posted 2/1/2010]
  9. Alternative Codes. Feedback pertained to use of alternative codes, including Chapter 5 of 2009 IECC for commercial buildings, the International Residential Code (IRC) for residential buildings, adopted codes beyond the target codes mentioned in the legislation (e.g. 2012 IECC), state-specific codes, and low-rise multi-family buildings covered under the commercial code. [Posted 2/1/2010]

Feedback is welcomed via email or telephone.
Email: linda.connell@pnl.gov
Telephone: Linda Connell at 509-375-4353