Program Highlights - October/November 2007
Welcome to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program's (BECP) monthly highlights. These highlights provide the latest information on our work to increase the energy efficiency of the nation's commercial and residential buildings.
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 New Setting the Standard Released in November
BECP's latest issue of Setting the Standard features information about our work with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) to achieve energy efficiency, highlights from Energy Codes 2007, frequently asked residential and commercial questions and answers, and more.
Working with ASHRAE — DOE's 30% Codes Initiative
DOE's 30% Codes Initiative is focused on helping ASHRAE achieve 30% energy savings as compared to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA¹ Standard 90.1-2004 by 2010. Working toward this goal, BECP is addressing the three critical elements of building energy use: lighting, mechanical, and envelope.
- Lighting — BECP worked to acquire lighting cost data and permission to release this data to ASHRAE. In addition, BECP funded a subcontract to develop a daylighting draft proposal; the proposal will be complete in time for the ASHRAE January meetings.
- Mechanical and Envelope — BECP worked with ASHRAE representatives to identify 17 prototype buildings to represent ten major building types. A set of benchmark buildings developed within DOE's Office of Building Technology is the basis for many of these prototypes. The set of prototypes will be used in building simulation models to develop regression equations, building load profiles, and determinations; test runs and trouble-shooting are underway for the models. In addition, the mechanical team is identifying code change proposals to help achieve the 30% goal. Finally, the envelope team is working with ASHRAE to obtain cost data for both opaque elements and fenestration to help justify the cost of more stringent envelope requirements.
Achieving Greater Efficiency in Residential Codes
BECP developed a two-year plan for improving the residential International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC) by 30%. The plan includes efforts to get 30% improvements approved by the International Code Council (ICC) as well as a provision for 30% improvements to be supplemented by a DOE-developed alternative in the case of ICC rejection of the proposed improvements.
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Updates to the IECC
Code Change Proposals
BECP considered IECC code change proposals relevant to our goals and made recommendations to DOE to support, oppose, or remain neutral regarding those proposals. View all of DOE's code change proposals for the ICC 2007/2008 code development cycle, and learn more about the ICC code development process. ICC's code change hearings will be held February 18-March 2 in Palm Springs, CA.
Working with the IECC Stakeholders
BECP staff worked proactively with IECC stakeholders to promote viable and efficient code change proposals in the current code development cycle. BECP analyzed 33 code change proposals put forward by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC) and discussed these proposals with EECC members at a DOE meeting on November 20, offering suggestions for improving many of the proposals prior to the ICC's February code development hearings.
In addition, staff attended a meeting of the Advanced Building Coalition (ABC) in Chicago in October, 2007, presenting strategies for improving residential energy codes by 30%, and met with ABC members at DOE Headquarters in December.
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Software Updates in October/November
REScheck™ version 4.1.2 supports the 2006 IECC and provides updated weather location references for high-efficiency equipment performance calculations. The software also offers customizations for Arizona's modified 2006 IECC as well as an update for the 2007 New York Energy Conservation Construction Code.
COMcheck™ Version 3.5.1 supports the 2006 IECC as well as introduces an external lighting compliance feature for the 2006 IECC and ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. The software also provides an update of the New York code based on the 2003 IECC.
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Technical Assistance to Users
Got code questions? We've got code answers. In October and November, we received and responded to 616 Technical Support inquiries from the energy codes community. Email your questions to BECP Technical Support at techsupport@becp.pnl.gov, or submit an inquiry online.
Technical Assistance to States
Wyoming
BECP analyzed the energy and economic impact of adopting the 2006 IECC as the state code for residential buildings in Wyoming. Read the full report, Analysis of Impacts of Adopting the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code for Residential Buildings in Wyoming.
New Hampshire
Software updates to REScheck and COMcheck are in process to support New Hampshire.
Massachusetts
BECP is making changes to software compliance reports for Massachusetts.
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Catch us at a Conference
BECP staff will attend the ASHRAE Winter meeting in New York City, January 18-21, 2008, as well as the ICC Code Development Hearings in Palm Springs, California, February 18-March 2, 2008.
In October 2007, BECP staff attended the ASHRAE Standing Standard Project Committee 90.1 interim meeting, the Advanced Building Coalition meeting, and the Idaho and Green Buildings Conference.
Watch a Webcast
New Standard 90.1-2007 Series
BECP will broadcast a three-part series on ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007 beginning in January 2008.
Part 1, Lighting Overview - Thursday, January 10, presented by Eric Richman of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Part 2, Mechanical Overview - Thursday, February 28, to be presented by Mark Hydeman of Taylor Engineering, LLC
Part 3, Envelope Overview - Thursday, March 27, to be presented by John Hogan of the city of Seattle, Department of Planning & Development
Exterior Lighting Requirements and COMcheck
Almost 1600 participants viewed the Exterior Lighting Requirements and COMcheck webcast, held on November 15.
Get Credit!
Registration for BECP's live webcast events fills up fast! But all of our live and recorded webcasts, sponsored by DOE, are offered at no cost to the building energy codes community. Each webcast is typically 60 minutes long, followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer session. Viewers can earn American Institute of Architects (AIA) Learning Units and ICC Continuing Education Units toward ICC certification renewal.
Check Out New Training Materials
Three new Code Notes and one new article are available from the BECP Resource Center.
Visit Our Website
BECP's website has a wealth of resources for the energy codes community. Visit www.energycodes.gov for training, software, news, and more! Website hits totaled 3,701,372 in October and 3,512,634 in November.
Status of State Codes Database
Did you know about BECP's state codes database? Learn about each state's contact information, current code status, code history, and construction data. A new enhancement includes a field to display detailed information about the stringency of state-specific codes or states with special state amendments. Users can also submit requests for updates; requests were received in October and November for Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
Software Tutorials
REScheck 201 and COMcheck 201 self-paced trainings are now available as pilot studies. Students can earn AIA credit; the level of AIA credit received per participant is being determined per the pilot study.
Calendar of Events
Advertise to the community! BECP invites website visitors to add a training or event for the building energy codes community on its Calendar of Events — a community source for buildings-related conferences and workshops as well as national energy code training and state energy code training conducted across the nation.
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Program Highlights Archives
¹The American National Standards Institute/ASHRAE/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
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