Survey Says: 2009 IECC Will Boost Average New Home’s Energy Efficiency by at Least 12.2 Percent

A comprehensive analysis commissioned by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC) has found that homes built to the new 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) – America’s new model energy code – will save their owners money through reduced energy use. Specifically, houses built according to the “prescriptive” path will reduce home energy use by 12.2 percent, saving homeowners approximately $235 annually; while houses built to the “performance-based” method will reduce energy use by 14.7 percent, for a savings of $275 annually.

It's a 'glass half full' scenario for the EECC. Just over a year ago this broad-based coalition of government, regional energy efficiency alliances, academia, think tanks, environmental groups, utilities, labor, energy consumers and businesses mounted a national campaign behind a comprehensive package of code improvements it dubbed “The 30% Solution", which aims to boost the model code for new home energy efficiency by 30 percent over the 2006 IECC. Last September, the International Code Council (ICC) voted for an increase to code efficiency by 13 percent over the model national energy code of 2006 – less than what the "30% Solution" called for but an improvement nonetheless.

Yet perhaps more important than this historic gain is the strong signal that energy efficiency is an emerging priority for the ICC and its members; over 60 percent of the code officials voting at the IECC’s Final Action Hearing favored building energy codes even stronger than those finally adopted, demonstrating a willingness to take major steps to save energy in new home construction.

Furthermore, a key stakeholder meeting convened by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in Washington, D.C. last week seems to confirm that the concept of "dynamic efficiency gains" is drawing significant support. “The debate is clearly shifting from whether we need a 30 percent improvement to the code to how we’ll get 30 percent,’” said William Fay, Director of EECC, which is housed at the Alliance to Save Energy. “Although we ended up roughly halfway to the goal of our comprehensive code package dubbed ‘The 30% Solution,’ we believe the International Code Council vote last September bodes well for meeting or exceeding our goal in the next round of code improvements which will occur in May 2010.”