Maps: How State Energy Codes Compare to Efficiency Goals

News / November 18, 2021

Published by Governing: Building energy use accounts for nearly 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. The latest energy codes can reduce carbon dioxide, but many states continue to use standards that are outdated. Kim Cheslak, director of codes for...

Building codes are wonky and dense. But they can slash emissions and pollutants.

News / October 13, 2021

Published by Grist: States and cities across the country are revamping often arcane building codes to limit the use of fossil fuels in homes and workplaces. It’s an essential shift, as gas-powered appliances like furnaces and water heaters are a...

Proposals to drastically cut GHG delivered to IECC committees

Post / October 13, 2021

This week, New Buildings Institute (NBI) submitted code change proposals to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) residential and commercial development committees. These proposals have the potential to drastically reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector and help...

NBI Releases Code Overlay for Electrification

News / October 4, 2021

Published by BuildingGreen: New Buildings Institute (NBI) wants to help jurisdictions bite off however much electrification they can chew. Recently released model code language offers provisions for requiring all-electric buildings and alternative provisions for requiring electric-ready buildings. Cities and towns can layer...

2024 IECC National Model Energy Code (Base Codes)

Codes & Policy / September 29, 2021 / Energy Codes

Work to update the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is underway. NBI submitted 50 proposals into the International Code Council’s (ICC) process to advance the 2024 IECC. The proposed amendments cover a wide range of measures and improve the...

DOE stirs up climate fight over building codes

News / September 21, 2021

Published by E&E News: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned the creators of the nation’s most widely used model for building energy codes yesterday that their work could be sliding toward “irrelevance” in addressing climate change, signaling that a once-obscure policy...

Cracking the Code

News / September 8, 2021

Published by Architect Magazine: Building codes and regulations shape our cities in countless ways, distilling generations of development experience, best practices for safety, technological know-how, and, especially in the case of zoning laws, society’s harmful, retrograde views on equity and equality....

Building Decarbonization Code

Guideline / August 26, 2021 / Energy Codes

The Building Decarbonization Code is a groundbreaking tool aiming to deliver carbon neutral performance. The Version 1.2 code language from NBI serves as a building decarbonization overlay to the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and is now compatible with…

California Forging Ahead on Zero Emission Buildings

News / August 12, 2021

Published by NRDC: Hopeful climate news came from Sacramento, CA as the California Energy Commission (CEC) took a major stride toward zero-carbon emissions buildings in the 2022 update of the statewide building energy code it just adopted. Energy use in...

Decentralized approach to codes means emissions reduction responsibility falls on local officials

News / August 11, 2021

Published by Building Design & Construction: While organizations such as the International Code Council set energy efficiency standards, in the U.S., state and local governments have the responsibility of adopting their own building codes. In Minnesota, for instance, a coalition of...

California takes bold steps to make electricity the fuel of choice for new buildings

News / August 11, 2021

Published by Canary Media: California has become the first state in the U.S. to pass building codes to make all-electric heating and appliances the default choice for newly built homes. It’s a win for advocates of limiting natural gas use...

The Fight to Change US Building Codes

News / August 2, 2021

Published by Inside Climate News: Energy consumed in buildings produced more than 30 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, making them a key part of the climate challenge. And the window to decarbonize them is narrowing: Analysts at organizations such...

Codes for Loads – Making Our Buildings Work with Renewable Power Grids

Post / July 22, 2021

Thirty states and the District of Columbia have adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), policies that require or set goals for all energy supply to be renewable by a chosen date mostly within the next two decades. The Biden Administration earlier...

How to Reduce Building Emissions and Center Equity: A New Framework for Policymakers and Communities

News / July 20, 2021

Framework co-developed with cities shows how Building Performance Standards can address city climate priorities and aid in promoting equitable economic recovery To support efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings, eight organizations came together with...

Model and Base Energy Codes

Codes & Policy / July 16, 2021 / Energy Codes

For more than 20 years, NBI has been working with partners and within the code-making bodies to advance codes at the national, state, and local government levels. National model energy codes and standards like ASHRAE 90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) have...

Buildings are big polluters: here’s the path to their decarbonisation.

News / July 8, 2021

Published by Smart Energy International: Buildings account for 39% of all the carbon emissions in the US, more than any other sector. According to the US Green Building Council, the emissions of US buildings alone are more than those of...

With Time Running Out To Cut Carbon From Buildings, Industry Just Tightened Its Grip

News / July 1, 2021

Published by Huffington Post: Buildings are huge generators of planet-warming gases, with fossil fuels responsible for everything from heating and cooling to cooking and charging our devices. Experts say a massive overhaul of building efficiency is imperative within the next...

Codes for Climate Offers States and Cities a Path to Building Decarbonization

News / June 25, 2021

Published by North American Clean Energy: As states and cities seek to fulfill their climate goals, it’s not clear that national code-making entities will keep pace with the efficiency stringency and building decarbonization measures that are necessary. Buildings currently represent...

New Stretch Code Will Mean Low-Carbon Buildings

News / May 16, 2021

Published by Green Lodging News: Transitioning America’s buildings away from burning fossil fuels for heating and water heating, toward equipment powered by increasingly clean electricity is key to meeting the nation’s climate goals, including President Biden’s commitment to net-zero carbon...

Code Council ushers new voices into building energy efficiency dialog

News / April 28, 2021

Published by Concrete Products: A new International Code Council framework will assist governments and building industry stakeholders in meeting energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction goals. The Code Council Board of Directors, which consists of 18 government officials who were...

Commercial buildings: an EV-ready approach for new builds and retrofits

News / April 20, 2021

Published by Electric Autonomy: In the third article in a series that explores how to make the built environment EV-ready, Brendan McEwen turns to commercial buildings, outlining how building codes and assessing user needs can achieve EV-ready outcomes. The New...

US building codes need a major retrofit to meet climate goals and spare consumers

News / April 7, 2021

Published by Smart Cities Dive: The International Code Council, which rolled back local governments’ say in energy efficiency regs for buildings, needs to adapt to the times or step aside, writes Energy Innovation’s Sara Baldwin. Buildings generate around a third...

The Technical Basis of Building Performance Standards

Paper / March 19, 2021

As leading cities and states seek to meet their aggressive climate, energy, and decarbonization goals, they are turning increasingly to mandatory policies that require improved energy and emissions performance across their existing building stock. The most comprehensive of these policies…

ICC Makes Controversial Change

News / March 19, 2021

Published by Architectural Record: Early in March, the board of directors of the International Code Council (ICC) moved to overhaul the process for developing its model energy code. The controversial change entails switching from a framework in which thousands of...

Changes to Energy Code Process Strip Power from Local Voters

News / March 9, 2021

Published by NRDC Expert Blog: The organization that administers the process for developing the national model building energy code for new homes and other buildings used by cities and towns nationwide has decided to make substantial changes to how it...

Industry organizations react to new ICC framework

News / March 8, 2021

Published by The Construction Specifier: A number of industry organizations have voiced their reactions to a new framework announced by the International Code Council (ICC). In reaction, New Buildings Institute (NBI) released a statement voicing is opposition the changes, which...

Overhaul of building energy code deals setback to gas ban backers

News / March 8, 2021

Published by S&P Global: The council responsible for developing model building codes overhauled its process for setting minimum energy efficiency requirements, blocking a pathway that local governments have used to secure decarbonization measures like building electrification and electric vehicle charging....

Code Fights

News / March 6, 2021

Published by POLITICO Morning Energy: The International Code Council meets today on whether to follow through on changing how energy conservation building codes are crafted. The changes would decrease input from local governments, which have previously pushed for aggressively greener...

New ICC framework sidelines local government participation in energy code development

News / March 4, 2021

NBI strongly opposes changes, which make action on climate “non-mandatory” The International Code Council (ICC) announced today a new framework that changes the essential nature of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) development process from a model energy code to...

New Stretch Code Will Mean Low-Carbon Buildings

News / February 25, 2021

Published by NRDC Expert Blog: Transitioning America’s buildings away from burning fossil fuels for heating and water heating, toward equipment powered by increasingly clean electricity is key to meeting the nation’s climate goals, including President Biden’s commitment to net-zero carbon...