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Enigin News - New Building Codes to Deliver 30 percent Energy Saving

Enigin News - New Building Codes to Deliver 30 percent Energy Saving

BUILDING officials from across the U.S. have voted for a series of new building energy codes that should help to improve energy efficiency in buildings by 30%.

“The votes that will have the most profound impact on national energy and environmental policy this year were not held in Washington or a state capital, but by governmental officials assembled by the International Code Council (ICC) in Charlotte, North Carolina,” said William Fay, Executive Director of the broad-based Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC).

The vote came at the Final Action Hearings for the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday.

The Code was based on proposals from the US Department of Energy, amended by the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC) and other stakeholder proposals.

More than 60 governmental members of the International Code Council took part in the hearings in Charlotte, but to take effect the 2012 IECC must now be implemented by states and local governments.

The ICC votes to improve the efficiency of the next edition of America’s buildings energy code governing commercial and residential building construction, additions and renovations will most likely achieve the 30% boost sought by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of State Energy Officials, governors, lawmakers and EECC.

“Reducing wasted energy from the nation’s largest single user – our homes and commercial buildings, which consume nearly half of our energy – was the byword of the nearly 500 state and local government representatives who spent five days of rigorous hearings to evaluate and pass judgment on hundreds of proposals to improve (or weaken) the IECC’s residential and commercial chapters.

“The ICC is to be congratulated for the tremendous efforts of its members to finish this code and achieve substantial energy efficiency,” Fay added.

The 2012 IECC encourages a “whole building” approach to efficiency in the construction of new commercial and residential buildings.

Designers of commercial buildings would have the choice of many options to boost energy efficiency, including generating renewable energy, using more efficient technology and equipment, such as energy efficient lighting systems.

The Washington DC-based nonprofit Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), which has been working with the EECC to promote the adoption of the new code proposals, said the 2012 IECC would benefit the U.S. by $10.2 billion each year in energy savings.

The IMT said every dollar spend complying with the code would provide six dollars in energy savings.

Cliff Majersik, Executive Director of IMT, said the vote in favor of the 2012 IECC was a “big deal” for energy efficiency efforts.
Mr Majersik said: “Most new buildings are built to the code – no better and no worse. These changes to the model energy code will slash pollution from power plants and furnaces while saving Americans billions of dollars in energy bills.”

The energy savings in the 2012 IECC meet calls from the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the countries industry leaders to improve the efficiency of commercial buildings by 30 percent. In addition, the 2012 IECC will serve as the baseline standard for the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) currently under development.

Enigin Distributors have the full range of energy saving technology from Enigin, which can be installed into new builds as well as upgrades, allowing for fully controlled energy use via Enigin PLC's Eniscope and other energy saving technologies.

Picture from Dmitry

Thursday 4th November 2010