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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 106458-106460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31024]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[EERE-2024-BT-DET-0007]
RIN 1904-AF66

Determination Regarding Energy Efficiency Improvements in the 
2024 International Energy Conservation Code

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notification of determination.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reviewed the 2024 
International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and determined the 
updated edition would improve energy efficiency in residential 
buildings. DOE analysis indicates that buildings meeting the 2024 IECC, 
as compared with buildings meeting the 2021 IECC, would result in 
national site energy savings of 7.80 percent, source energy savings of 
6.80 percent, and energy cost savings of approximately 6.60 percent of 
residential building energy consumption. Under the Energy Conservation 
and Production Act, as amended (ECPA), upon publication of an 
affirmative determination, each State must review the energy efficiency 
provisions of its residential building code and determine whether it is 
appropriate for such state to revise its building code to meet or 
exceed the 2024 IECC. Additionally, this notification provides guidance 
on state code review processes and associated certifications.

DATES: Certification statements provided by States shall be submitted 
by December 30, 2026.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the supporting analysis and a link to the Federal 
docket are available at https://www.energycodes.gov/determinations.
    Certification Statements must be addressed to the Building 
Technologies Office--Building Energy Codes Program Manager, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 
1000 Independence Avenue SW, EE-5B, Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeremiah Williams; U.S. Department 
of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW, EE-5B, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 441-1288; 
[email protected].
    For legal issues, please contact: Ms. Laura Zuber; U.S. Department 
of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 
GC-33, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-4798; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background
II. Determination Statement
III. State Certification

I. Background

    Title III of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended 
(ECPA), establishes requirements for DOE to review consensus-based 
building energy conservation standards. 42 U.S.C. 6831 et seq. Section 
304(a) of ECPA, as amended, provides that whenever the 1992 Council of 
American Building Officials (CABO) Model Energy Code, or any successor 
to that code, is revised, the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) must make 
a determination, no later than 12 months after such revision, whether 
the revised code would improve energy efficiency in residential 
buildings, and must publish notice of such determination in the Federal 
Register. 42 U.S.C. 6833(a)(5)(A). If the Secretary makes an 
affirmative determination, within two years of the publication of the 
determination, each State is required to certify that it has reviewed 
the provisions of its residential building code regarding energy 
efficiency and made a determination as to whether it is appropriate to 
revise its code to meet or exceed the provisions of the successor code. 
42 U.S.C. 6833(a)(5)(B).
    The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is the 
contemporary successor to the CABO Model Energy Code specified in ECPA. 
The IECC is revised every three years through an established code 
development and consensus process administered by the International 
Code Council (ICC). The ICC published the most recent edition of the 
IECC in August 2024 (the 2024 IECC) and triggered the statutorily 
required DOE review process. As part of the ICC process, any interested 
party may submit proposals, as well as written comments or suggested 
changes to any proposal, and make arguments before a committee of 
experts assembled by the ICC. The collection of accepted proposals 
forms the revised edition of the IECC. More information on the ICC code 
development process is available at https://www.iccsafe.org/products-and-services/i-codes/code-development/cs/iecc-residential-consensus-committee.
    As required by ECPA, DOE conducts a technical analysis to assess 
the energy savings impacts associated with the updated code, the 2024 
IECC. DOE's review under ECPA is technical in nature and helps to 
inform and advise interested industry stakeholders of the effects of 
the updated code, and informs states and local governments who 
ultimately adopt, implement, and enforce building codes. Although DOE 
is an active participant in the review and update process for the 2024 
IECC, as directed under ECPA (42 U.S.C. 6836(b)), the Department 
neither administers nor publishes the model energy codes. Additionally, 
the directive for states to update their energy efficiency codes based 
on the updated edition of the 2024 IECC is required by ECPA. DOE's 
technical analysis serves as the basis for DOE's determination and 
helps inform states who seek to update their codes and comply with 
ECPA.
    DOE's full technical analysis, including assumptions and parameters 
applied in the analysis, is published as a separate technical support 
document (TSD) and available for review at https://www.energycodes.gov/determinations.
    DOE publishes a wide range of technical assistance resources 
supporting building energy codes. These include additional technical 
analyses evaluating the impacts of updated building energy codes, such 
as quantifying the energy and environmental benefits, as well as 
additional resources supporting the adoption and successful 
implementation of energy codes across states and local governments. New 
Federal assistance is also available to support state and local 
adoption and implementation of building energy codes through the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Section 40511) and Inflation Reduction 
Act (Section 50131). Visit www.energycodes.gov to learn more about 
these initiatives and technical assistance resources.

II. Determination Statement

    Residential buildings meeting the 2024 IECC are expected to 
experience the following savings on a weighted national average basis 
(compared to the previous 2021 edition):
     7.80 percent site energy savings
     6.80 percent source energy savings
     6.60 percent energy cost savings
     6.51 percent carbon emissions savings

[[Page 106459]]

    DOE concludes that the 2024 IECC will improve energy efficiency in 
residential buildings and, therefore, receives an affirmative 
determination under Section 304(a) of ECPA.

III. State Certification

    Upon publication of this affirmative DOE determination, ECPA 
requires each State to certify that it has reviewed the provisions of 
its residential building code regarding energy efficiency and made a 
determination as to whether it is appropriate for such State to revise 
its residential building code to meet or exceed the 2024 IECC. 42 
U.S.C. 6833(a)(5)(B). Each State must complete its certification not 
later than 2 years from the date this Notice of Determination is 
published in the Federal Register, unless an extension is provided.
    In the 2024 IECC development cycle, the IECC-Residential technical 
development committee approved several proposals that were later 
appealed to the ICC Board of Directors. Per the Board's decision, 
several measures that increased building energy performance and 
reliance on nondepletable sources of energy were removed from the code 
prior to publication and were relegated to optional appendices within 
the 2024 IECC. These measures will provide substantial benefits for 
consumers, such as supporting grid integration and reliability, and 
enabling homes to more readily incorporate high-performance equipment 
and appliances, electric vehicle charging and renewable energy systems, 
as well as increase resilience against climate hazards. Consequently, 
DOE strongly encourages states and local governments to consider 
adopting these appendices and measures when updating and certifying 
their building energy codes in accordance with the 2024 IECC. The DOE 
technical assistance and funding opportunities described below are 
available to states and local governments for assessing and adopting 
these measures.
State Review & Update
    The State certification must be: (1) made after public notice and 
hearing; (2) in writing; (3) based upon findings and the evidence 
presented at the hearing; and (4) made available to the public. 42 
U.S.C. 6833(a)(2). States have discretion regarding the hearing 
procedures they use, as long as they provide an adequate opportunity 
for members of the public to be heard and present relevant information. 
The Department recommends publication of any notice of public hearing 
through appropriate and prominent media outlets, such as in a newspaper 
of general circulation or electronic formats commonly relied upon for 
public announcements. States should also be aware that this DOE 
determination does not apply to IECC chapters specific to 
nonresidential buildings, as defined in the IECC. Therefore, States 
must certify their evaluations of their State building codes for 
residential buildings with respect to all provisions of the IECC, 
except for those chapters not affecting residential buildings. DOE 
determinations regarding earlier editions of the IECC are available on 
the DOE Building Energy Codes Program website.\1\ Further technical 
analysis is also available to help quantify the anticipated impacts of 
updated building energy codes for states, local governments and other 
stakeholders.\2\
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    \1\ https://www.energycodes.gov/determinations.
    \2\ https://www.energycodes.gov/national-and-state-analysis.
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State Certification Statements
    Section 304(b) of ECPA, as amended, requires each State to certify 
to the Secretary of Energy that it has reviewed the energy efficiency 
provisions of its residential building code and made a determination 
whether it is appropriate to revise its code to meet or exceed the 
provisions of the successor code. 42 U.S.C. 6833(a)(4). If a State 
intends to certify that its residential building energy code already 
meets or exceeds the requirements of the 2024 IECC, the State should 
provide an explanation of the basis for this certification (e.g., the 
2024 IECC is incorporated by reference in the State's building code 
regulations). The chief executive of the State (e.g., the governor), or 
a designated State official (e.g., director of the State energy office, 
State code commission, utility commission, or equivalent State agency 
having primary responsibility for residential building energy codes), 
must provide the certification to the Secretary. For states that do not 
have a statewide building energy code, the designated state official 
must compile and submit a list of building energy codes in place across 
units of local governments as part of the state certification.
State and Local Technical Assistance
    The DOE Building Energy Codes Program tracks and reports State code 
adoption and certification.\3\ DOE provides technical assistance to 
states, as well as units of local government with authority to adopt 
building energy codes, to assist them in evaluating building energy 
code updates. This assistance is available by request and may include 
technical analysis of expected energy code impacts, such as energy and 
cost savings or environmental impacts, as well as evaluation of 
proposed amendments, market trends, or other design and construction 
data, as available. Following the adoption of an updated energy code, 
DOE strives to provide technical assistance supporting the successful 
implementation of such codes, including compliance tools, education and 
training, and support for the updated code. DOE has issued previous 
guidance on how it intends to respond to technical assistance requests 
related to implementation resources, such as building energy code 
compliance software. 79 FR 15112. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law 
(BIL) \4\ and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) \5\ also provide 
substantial assistance--over $1.2 billion in new Federal funding--
supporting adoption and implementation of updated building energy 
codes. DOE does not prescribe how each State adopts and enforces its 
energy codes.
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    \3\ Available at https://www.energycodes.gov/adoption/states.
    \4\ https://www.energycodes.gov/RECI.
    \5\ https://www.energy.gov/scep/technical-assistance-adoption-building-energy-codes.
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Requests for Extensions
    Section 304(c) of ECPA requires the Secretary to extend the 
deadline for complying with the certification requirements described 
previously, if a State demonstrates that it has made a good faith 
effort to comply with such requirements and that it has made 
significant progress toward meeting its certification obligations. 42 
U.S.C. 6833(c). Such demonstrations could include one or both of the 
following: (1) a plan to respond to the requirements in Section 304; or 
(2) a statement that the State has appropriated or requested funds 
(within State funding procedures) to implement a plan that would 
respond to the requirements of Section 304 of ECPA. This list is not 
exhaustive. States must send requests to the address provided in the 
ADDRESSES section or submit them to [email protected].

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on December 
20, 2024, by Jeffrey M. Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, pursuant to delegated 
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original 
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes 
only, and in compliance with

[[Page 106460]]

requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE 
Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit 
the document in electronic format for publication, as an official 
document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no 
way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on December 20, 2024.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2024-31024 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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