April 5, 2024 | Jim Meyers, Buildings Program Director
Last month, the International Code Council (ICC) Board of Directors made its final decision on the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and none of us who served on the consensus committee or follow codes closely were expecting the outcome.
I have served on the 2024 IECC residential consensus committee for the past two-and-a-half years. Unfortunately, the Board removed certain provisions from the code that our committee spent thousands of person-hours developing, that had been approved by over 90% of the committees involved as well as the appeals board, that would have helped decarbonize buildings, and that met the intent of the code.
The development of the 2024 IECC began two years ago with the ICC Board’s creation of a new scope and intent section. As the committees and subcommittees started working on the new IECC, we had regular, extensive discussions with ICC to ensure our work was consistent with the new intent and scope and would be appropriate for the body of the code (as opposed to optional appendices). This included topics like electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, solar readiness, and electrification that impact energy use more broadly.
The committees thought they had followed ICC’s guidance and thought they had received a clear directive from the ICC to incorporate decarbonization requirements into the code’s body. However, after almost two-and-a-half years, the Board reinterpreted the scope and intent, pulling the rug out from under our collective work.
The Board’s announcement signals the conclusion of a prolonged effort that leaves the future of enhancements to the IECC uncertain, yet again. The Board’s decision raises concerns about the new IECC standards process moving forward.
I believe it would have been more helpful if the Board had been clearer in 2022 when we first asked these questions. Many professionals in the code development world share the same sentiment, feeling that the Board did a disservice to the committees.
What does this mean for us now? With the publication of the 2024 IECC, several new residential appendices will be available for states and municipalities to include in their locally adopted energy codes. This is the positive outcome I mentioned earlier, akin to making lemonade out of lemons.
It’s important to note that the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) will continue to work at the state and local level to improve efficiency in the energy code and increase opportunities for decarbonization in local policy. The appendices provide this opportunity. The new appendices were developed over a lengthy time by a large stakeholder group from building industries. They are nationally vetted, in codified language, and ready to be added to state and local amendments.
The residential appendices will now include provisions for the following:
- EV infrastructure
- Electrification readiness
- Zero Energy
- Electric energy storage
- All electric residential buildings
- IECC stretch code
- Operational carbon rating and energy reporting
Yes, we are disappointed that the Board removed items from the code’s body and instead put them in voluntary appendices. We are also disappointed that the Board moved some of the new appendices to a resource and/or added a cautionary note to its use. We are also unsure what the Board’s actions mean for future IECC development. We have concerns about transparency, the integrity of the standards development process, and the ICC’s commitment to improving the IECC.
In the meantime, SWEEP will continue to work at the state and local levels to support policy and code updates that support state and municipal sustainability and clean energy goals. To learn more about how SWEEP can support your building code and building policy updates, contact the Buildings Program team at SWEEP. You can start with me at jmeyers@swenergy.org.
