Publications

A research project in the State of North Carolina identified opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction by increasing compliance with the state energy code. The study was initiated in January 2015 and continued through September 2015. During this period, research teams visited 249 homes during various stages of construction, resulting in a substantial data set based on observations made directly in the field.

The purpose of this report is to document findings and final results from the North Carolina field study, including a summary of key trends observed in the field, their impact on energy efficiency, and whether the selected education and training activities resulted in a measurable change in statewide energy use.

This document outlines the organization and division of the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission.

A research project in the state of Oregon identified opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction by increasing compliance with the state energy code. The study was initiated in November 2019; data collection began in November 2019 and continued through February 2020. Analysis of the data has led to a better understanding of the energy features present in homes and identified over $600,000 in potential annual savings to Oregon homeowners that could result from increased compliance with the 2017 Oregon Residential Specialty Code (2017 ORSC).

This letter hereby to certifies that the State of Oregon has adopted the 2023 Oregon Residential Specialty Code (ORSC with energy efficiency provisions exceeding those of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code ( I C C ) for low-rise residential buildings. 

A research project in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania identified opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction by increasing compliance with the state energy code. The study was initiated in October 2014 and continued through July 2015. During this period, research teams visited 171 homes during various stages of construction, resulting in a substantial data set based on observations made directly in the field.

The purpose of this report is to document findings and final results from the Pennsylvania field study, including a summary of key trends observed in the field, their impact on energy efficiency, and whether the selected education and training activities resulted in a measurable change in statewide energy use.

The data (in this file or on this page) represents the data collected as DOE’s Residential Field Study[1] as of June 2016.  Data is provided Microsoft Excel for 8 states – AL, KY, MD, NC, PA, TX, AR and GA.  Additional states using DOE’s field study methodology, may be added in the future as data collection and analysis is completed.  

This data file was reformatted and revised May 28, 2019, and again July 17, 2019.

The most recent edition, the 2018 IECC, was published in August 2017, triggering the DOE review and determination process. In response, DOE and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted a preliminary analysis to determine energy savings for the 2018 IECC residential provisions relative to the previous edition--the 2015 IECC. This report documents the methodology used to conduct the analysis and summarizes the results and findings.

The most recent edition, the 2021 IECC, was published on January 29, 2021, triggering the DOE review and determination process2. DOE and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted a technical analysis to determine energy savings for the 2021 IECC residential provisions relative to the previous edition, the 2018 IECC (ICC 2017). This report documents the methodology used to conduct the analysis and summarizes the results.

This project was initiated because of the state of Florida desire to review provisions of its proposed 7th Edition (2020) Florida Energy Code (FEC) for commercial buildings in order to make a determination if it meets or performs better than ASHRAE 90.1-2016 code. For this purpose the proposed code modifications were reviewed and quantitatively analyzed.

This report explains the methodology used to develop version 4.6.5 of the REScheck software in order to support compliance determination for IECC editions 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018.

This document presents a methodology for assessing baseline energy efficiency in new single-family residential buildings and quantifying related savings potential.

Final report of the U.S. DOE Multifamily Residential Energy Efficiency Field Study to validate the impact of building energy codes in low-rise multifamily buildings and identify opportunities for increased energy that can be addressed through workforce education & training programs. Results include both characteristics summaries (by state) and an analysis of the opportunities associated with increased code compliance on building energy use in the different climate zones. As well, the process of collecting and processing building data so that these estimates can be prepared is described in detail, with the intent that others could employ this process in future studies. This report also includes a market research component that describes interviews with key actors in the multifamily sector (building designers, developers, and builders) that focuses on various aspects of the code, including specific code details relevant to code education and training, and overall energy performance.

In early 2017, the Nebraska Energy Office expressed interest in evaluating the construction of new single-family homes in Nebraska using the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) low-rise residential evaluation methodology.1 As part of that methodology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was directed by DOE to analyze the data collected in Nebraska. This memorandum provides and discusses the results of PNNL’s analysis.

This document is an update to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) cost-effectiveness methodology originally published in August 2015. Changes include correction of a typographical error in lifecycle costing equations and building prototype enhancements; updating the weighting factors for foundation types and system types based on permit data from the U.S. Census and current housing starts data from the U.S. Census and Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), updated representative climate locations for both national and state level aggregations, adding a section on data for measure lifetimes, and the addition of the determination strategy for compiling first costs of measures and economic parameters.

Beginning in 2014, the U.S. Department Energy (DOE) funded a series of multi-year residential energy code field studies to explore energy savings opportunities from enhanced code compliance. This report presents the final results across the three phases to assess whether the education and training activities successfully improved code compliance to achieve significant changes in energy use.