The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) encourages greater energy efficiency in buildings through the development and implementation of model energy codes and standards. In support of this goal, DOE 1) evaluates published editions of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1: Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential buildings, and the International Energy Conservation Code to help states and local jurisdictions better understand the impacts of updating their commercial and residential building energy codes and standards, and 2) assess the savings associated with updated codes and standards.
DOE relies on an established methodology for each model code, and conducts both national and custom state-level analyses. In addition, a State Savings Calculator allows for further customization based on various economic perspectives and other state-level assumptions.
The Energy Credits technical brief provides additional efficiency measures that go beyond the current prescriptive commercial energy codes. It demonstrates relative savings for multiple measures and shows a base savings package by building type and climate zone that is cost effective for building owners and tenants. See also, the Energy Credits Application Guide: ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2022 and the Expanded Energy and Load Management Credits in Energy Codes technical brief.
The BC3 data, as referenced in the methodology, was originally available as a web-based database, but has now been archived and made available as a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet represents the complete contents of the BC3 database.