About the Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is working to improve the energy efficiency of the Nation's buildings through new technologies and better building practices. Energy-efficient buildings improve the lives of Americans by saving consumers money, lessening our demand for fossil fuels, decreasing the need for new power generation, and reducing environmental emissions.

DOE's Building Energy Codes Program is an information resource on national model energy codes. We work with other government agencies, state and local jurisdictions, national code organizations, and industry to promote stronger building energy codes and help states adopt, implement, and enforce those codes.

We are involved in five major areas to help improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings:

help develop improved national model energy codes
help DOE develop and promulgate improved Federal building energy codes
develop and distribute easy-to-use compliance tools and materials
provide financial and technical assistance to help states adopt, implement, and enforce building energy codes
collaborate with stakeholders to address industry needs and provide information on compliance products and training and energy code-related news

How We Do It

Strengthening energy codes increases the likelihood of energy and cost savings in new construction and renovations to existing buildings. New buildings can be designed to be both more comfortable and more efficient, cutting heating and cooling costs by close to 50%. The most cost-effective time to improve the envelope, equipment, and lighting efficiency of existing buildings is when those elements must be replaced or upgraded for new owners or tenants or due to normal wear and tear.

We work closely with the International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and other code user groups to develop more stringent and easier-to-understand building energy codes. These groups are identifying candidate energy-efficient technologies and practices and working to remove barriers to these technologies in the national model energy codes.

We use the results of our work in helping develop improved national model codes as a basis for developing and promulgating Federal energy codes. We also use the promulgation of Federal energy codes as a sounding board for improving model codes.

Direct financial and technical assistance is provided to states to promote the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of state and local building energy codes. We help states modify national model energy codes to meet state needs and develop state-specific code compliance software and training materials. We also provide code compliance training within states and analyze the energy and economic impact of state and local building codes. The results of these activities are then made available to other states and local governments.

We also develop and distribute compliance tools and materials that make it easier for designers, builders, product manufacturers, and code officials to comply with energy codes based on the IECC or ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 requirements. The REScheck™ (formerly MECcheck), COMcheck-EZ™, and COMcheck-Plus™ compliance products include software and accompanying user's guides, videos, training materials, and compliance manuals.

Our outreach and deployment activities are essential to achieving code compliance and resulting energy savings. Outreach activities notify stakeholders about developments in energy codes, available compliance products and training, and other energy-related news.

The Building Energy Codes Website is a major source of communication and information exchange on building energy codes, where users can download the compliance software and training materials free.
The Energy Codes Hotline staff answer questions, provide information and technical assistance on building energy codes, and connect callers to other resources.
In addition to distributing training videos and CDs, we sponsor workshops and training events.
The Setting the Standard newsletter encourages information exchange among building professionals and organizations, state and local code officials, researchers, and designers.
On request, the Program provides direct technical assistance to states and local jurisdictions to help them adopt, implement, and enforce building energy codes. The program helps states modify national model energy codes to meet state needs and develop state-specific code compliance software and training materials. It also provides code compliance training within states and analyzes the energy and economic impact of state and local building codes.

Is It Working?

DOE's $37.5 million investment in the Program has resulted in energy savings of nearly $1 billion per year. The efforts have improved the energy efficiency of nearly 3 billion square feet of new commercial floor space and nearly 4 million new households. The cumulative energy cost savings from the Program is estimated to be over $4.2 billion as of 2001 - enough to provide all of the energy requirements for over 3 million homes for a year. Every $1 spent on the Program has yielded more than $105 in annual energy savings.

The Building Energy Codes Program is helping to continue this trend. Program activities are projected to reduce the Nation's primary energy use in 2010 by $7 billion in residential buildings and $3.3 billion in commercial buildings. By 2030, consumers are projected to save $5.3 billion in energy costs, the environment is projected to benefit from a reduction in carbon emissions of 13.2 MMton, and the Nation is projected to reduce its primary energy use by 718 TBtu annually.

Hear From Our Users

Who Benefits?

Designers, builders, product manufacturers, and state and local jurisdictions benefit from the Program's active involvement in codes and standards development, compliance and training tool development, outreach and deployment, and technical assistance to states by making it easier to adopt, implement, and enforce more stringent, progressive energy codes.

When adopted, implemented, and enforced, stronger energy codes mean more energy-efficient buildings. For consumers, conserving energy through energy-efficient buildings means lower energy bills. For the environment and our Nation, conserving energy lowers our demand for fossil fuels and our dependence on imported energy, decreases our need for new power generation, and reduces pollution.