The newest building energy code, which will govern how much energy and money is saved by new home and commercial building owners, was recently approved by code officials – and by and large, they voted to uphold the great efficiency gains made in past code cycles.
Here, the NRDC’s senior energy policy advocate Lauren Urbanek blogs about this development.
Americans spend more than $200 billion each year on their energy bills and a recent Department of Energy report found that a modest 4 percent to 5 percent increase in the stringency of the building energy code could cumulatively save consumers $126 billion on their energy bills from 2010 to 2040. Those are real savings for building owners and occupants and the reduced energy use from such improvements as more efficient windows or thicker insulation also helps avoid the pollution from fossil fuel-fired electricity generation that fuels climate change.
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