Publications

Described separately from the U.S. DOE Multifamily Residential Energy Efficiency Field Study, this report is a simultaneous study of building air tightness occurred using several of the main study buildings and additional sites that met the building type criteria. Overall, 26 sites were evaluated this way using semi-automated testing equipment (blower doors).
 

Final report of the U.S. DOE Multifamily Residential Energy Efficiency Field Study to validate the impact of building energy codes in low-rise multifamily buildings and identify opportunities for increased energy that can be addressed through workforce education & training programs. Results include both characteristics summaries (by state) and an analysis of the opportunities associated with increased code compliance on building energy use in the different climate zones. As well, the process of collecting and processing building data so that these estimates can be prepared is described in detail, with the intent that others could employ this process in future studies. This report also includes a market research component that describes interviews with key actors in the multifamily sector (building designers, developers, and builders) that focuses on various aspects of the code, including specific code details relevant to code education and training, and overall energy performance.

Field study data supporting the U.S. DOE Multifamily Residential Energy Efficiency Field Study to validate the impact of building energy codes in low-rise multifamily buildings and identify opportunities for increased energy that can be addressed through workforce education & training programs. This zip file contains individual documents listed below)

• Data Dictionary
• Entity Relationship Diagram
• Generic Read Me
• Illinois Summary Dataset
• Minnesota Summary Dataset
• Oregon Summary Dataset
• Washington Summary Dataset

Presentation slides from the 2019 National Energy Codes Conference that provided an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy Building Energy Codes residential field study Phase III data collection and findings.

A research project in the state of Tennessee identified opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction by increasing compliance with the state energy code.  The study was initiated in September 2017 and continued through July 2018.  Analysis of the data has led to a better understanding of the energy features present in homes and indicates over $2.5 million in potential annual savings to Tennessee homeowners that could result from increased code compliance.

A research project in the state of Oregon identified opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction by increasing compliance with the state energy code. The study was initiated in November 2019; data collection began in November 2019 and continued through February 2020. Analysis of the data has led to a better understanding of the energy features present in homes and identified over $600,000 in potential annual savings to Oregon homeowners that could result from increased compliance with the 2017 Oregon Residential Specialty Code (2017 ORSC).

A research project in the Commonwealth of Virginia identified opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction by increasing compliance with the state energy code. The study was initiated in August 2017 and continued through May 2018. During this period, research teams visited 138 homes during various stages of construction, resulting in a substantial data set based on observations made directly in the field.

This is the data collected for states using DOE's Residential Field Study Methodology, but not part of DOE's Residential Field Study.  Data is currently available for ID, IL, MO, MT, NE, VA, and WV but additional data will be added as other states use the methodology.  

62 Commercial Buildings were evaluated for compliance with the 2009 IECC/ASHRAE 90.1-2007 be-tween October 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Of that number, 17 buildings were eventually dropped from the study for several reasons: Building would not be completed within time frame and no similar building could be found to merge Project “died” prior to construction ever starting Building was completed or nearly so prior to first visit by Evaluator.

The objective of this report is to assess the compliance of newly-constructed single-family homes with the Vermont Residential Building Energy Standards (RBES). This analysis is part of a broader study of the single-family residential new construction market in Vermont.

This Executive Summary provides a high level review of the results for the Rhode Island Energy Code Compliance Baseline Study. In this section, we state the study objectives, summarize the evaluation approach, and present key findings, conclusions and recommendations.

This report presents the results of a Study on the rate of compliance with the New York State (NYS) energy code. The Study tested the protocols developed by the US Department of Energy to determine if NYS’s new and renovated residential and commercial buildings exceed the 90% compliance threshold that states will be will be required to meet by 2017 as part of ARRA legislation. This Study performed detailed plan review and field inspections on 44 newly constructed residential and 26 new commercial buildings. The Study also included interviews with policy makers, contractors, engineers, architects, and code officials; and surveys of architects, homeowners, builders, and code officials who planned, constructed and inspected renovations.

The Nebraska Energy Office (NEO) commissioned Britt/Makela Group, Inc. (BMG) to assess compliance with the commercial provisions of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The goals of the project were to: 

• Assess compliance rates for projects that represented typical commercial construction in Nebraska 
• Collect information on energy code compliance issues that could be used to establish a framework for future energy code implementation programs in the state.

This report provides the results and methodologies for the 2010-2011 Iowa Energy Code Pilot Study that was conducted by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, division of State Fire Marshal, State Building Code Bureau. This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy with support from Pacific Northwest National Laboratories – Building Energy Codes Project and the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA). Preliminary work on the study began in May of 2010. A contract with MEEA was signed in October 2010 with work commencing on the study in January 2011. The primary goal of the study was to determine the rate of compliance with the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code throughout the state of Iowa. Secondary goals of the study were to determine average energy code inspection durations, provide training to local code officials and builders participating in the study, and to determine areas of improvement.

The goals of this study were threefold: 1) Provide feedback to the BECP on the implementation of the BECP protocol 2) Develop a preliminary pattern/range of the existing compliance rates of newly constructed residential dwellings and commercial buildings based on jurisdictions in Illinois that have adopted the building energy codes and 3) Identify areas where home performance and codes training and education activities could be improved or refocused. Measurements of a small sample set (10) of commercial buildings were also taken. Due to the insignificance sample size, a commercial compliance rate is not reported here.

Project Goal: Assess and record energy code compliance of buildings currently under construction, following the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) processes, in compliance with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), and identify procedural changes in code enforcement and training needed to improve compliance rates.

This study was conducted to estimate as-built energy use characteristics for homes that were not part of the Energy Efficiency Fund New Construction Program (RNC) as a baseline for the RNC Program. Resulting information will be applied to estimation of the net effects of the RNC Program on efficiency improvements. Additionally, these results are used to establish preliminary estimates of User Defined Reference Home (UDRH) inputs to be used as baseline characteristics against which construction within the RNC Program can be compared. Findings are based on the results of on-site inspections, including Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ratings, of 69 homes that were not part of the RNC program, were completed from November 2009 through July 2011, and whose owners agreed to have their home inspected.

Summary of the findings of the 2003 Residential New Construction Baseline Study conducted by Itron, Inc. under Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) management.1 KEMA-Xenergy conducted the on-site surveys. The RNC baseline study investigates energy efficiency in newly constructed single family homes throughout California. The study’s primary purpose is to provide information to residential new construction (RNC) program managers across the state, thereby allowing them to assess and address the effect of recent energy code changes on these programs.

This document presents a methodology for assessing baseline energy efficiency in new single-family residential buildings and quantifying related savings potential.

Beginning in 2014, the U.S. Department Energy (DOE) funded a series of multi-year residential energy code field studies to explore energy savings opportunities from enhanced code compliance. This report presents the final results across the three phases to assess whether the education and training activities successfully improved code compliance to achieve significant changes in energy use.

The purpose of this report is to document findings and final results from the Texas field study, including a summary of key trends observed in the field, their impact on energy efficiency, and whether the selected education and training activities resulted in a measurable change in statewide energy use.

The purpose of this report is to document findings and final results from the Pennsylvania field study, including a summary of key trends observed in the field, their impact on energy efficiency, and whether the selected education and training activities resulted in a measurable change in statewide energy use.

The purpose of this report is to document findings and final results from the North Carolina field study, including a summary of key trends observed in the field, their impact on energy efficiency, and whether the selected education and training activities resulted in a measurable change in statewide energy use.

The purpose of this report is to document findings and final results from the Maryland field study, including a summary of key trends observed in the field, their impact on energy efficiency, and whether the selected education and training activities resulted in a measurable change in statewide energy use.