ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Changes to the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code were approved at the 2013 International Code Council Annual Conference and Public Comment Hearings earlier this month. The updated code will reduce energy waste in new homes and offer more flexibility to builders.
The main change to the 2015 code is the incorporation of a voluntary performance compliance path through a new version of the Energy Rating Index (ERI). The ERI measures a home’s energy efficiency on a scale from zero to 100. The lower the ERI score, the higher a home’s efficiency.
“This is a hug win-win for new homeowners, builders and for energy efficiency — our cheapest, cleanest resource,” said Meg Waltner, National Resources Defense Council’s manager for building energy policy, in a statement. “This is a cost-effective approach that will help cut utility costs for homeowners, give greater flexibility to homebuilders in complying with the code and create a stronger market for even more efficient homes by giving home buyers an MPG-like rating to compare the homes side by side.”
The new index will allow builders to use alternative pathways to compliance such as the Home Energy Rating Index Score (HERS), which is not compatible to the current ERI.
The proposal to revise the 2015 ERI was made by the National Resources Defense Council, Institute of Market Transformation and the Britt Makela Group. Steve Baden, executive director of the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET), called the new ERI a “victory for consumers and builders.”
“Homes complying through this path will be higher performing, hence having lower utility bills, while at the same time provide more flexibility to builders in meeting the code,” he said in a statement. “The action is also a big step for RESNET and the HERS industry. With this new responsibility, RESNET has to step up its game and make a concentrated effort to ensure consistent and accurate HERS Index scores.”
In the same conference, the council rejected several home efficiency rollback proposals. One proposal, RE-166, would increase a new home’s energy use by at least 6 percent and as much as 22 percent, according to an analysis by ICF International. The proposal was rejected in a 75 to 52 vote.
“By dismissing efforts to roll back the historic 30 percent efficiency gains we won three years ago in the 2012 IECC, ICC governmental members avoided what would have been the single biggest step backward in energy efficient ever adopted into the model energy code,” said Bill Fay, executive director of the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition, in a statement.