ICC Slaps Homeowners by Rolling Back National Energy Code in Face of Record Heating Fuel Prices: U.S. Department of Energy Statement Supports Rollback

Washington, D.C. — On September 29 in Detroit, the International Code Council (ICC) voted to roll back the energy efficiency requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), a code incorporated into many state building codes. By reversing the IECC Development Committee's 2003 action to raise wall insulation standards, the ICC action will increase energy costs for homes built to the 2006 version of the IECC.

"This is a shocking slap in the face for consumers, many of whom are going into debt to pay their energy bills," said ACEEE Deputy Director Bill Prindle. "We find it incomprehensible that the ICC would roll back energy codes when U.S. home heating prices, let along housing prices, are at record levels."

ACEEE analysis shows that the wall insulation improvements rolled back by the ICC action would have saved more than $7 billion for American homeowners and 500 trillion British thermal units over 30 years. This and other analyses illustrate that many construction options are available that would meet the improved wall standards. ACEEE's study can be found at http://www.aceee.org/buildings/policy_legis/bldgcodes/iecc.pdf.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a statement prior to the testimony on this issue. The effect of this statement—the essence of which is that more research is needed before stringency improvements are made to the code—was to lend support to the proposal to roll back wall insulation levels. The rollback proposal was already the focus of a massive campaign by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which is well known for opposing any proposals to increase efficiency levels in the IECC, and the appearance of support by the DOE helped it succeed.

"DOE's action at the ICC is strikingly at odds with its public statements on the unprecedented need to help homeowners reduce their energy bills," said Prindle. "Secretary Bodman announced a public awareness campaign today for home energy efficiency, based on the Department's finding that home heating fuel prices are creating unprecedented burdens for consumers. Yet the Department's action in Detroit last week lent support to a rollback that will increase energy bills for millions of families that buy new homes in the next few years. While we are glad the Secretary has announced this new campaign, we hope that the Department will change its approach on energy codes and work to develop code changes that will save energy."

NAHB and other rollback proponents made claims that the IECC wall insulation upgrades would have forced builders to use unsafe and uneconomic construction practices to comply with the requirements. However, beyond the fact that ACEEE's study shows that there are cost-effective compliance options using proven wall construction methods, ACEEE and others have pointed out that the IECC's many compliance paths offered ample flexibility for builders to trade off increased wall insulation for other efficiency measures, such as better windows, higher-efficiency heating and cooling systems, and duct sealing. As one illustration, the state of New York had already developed a simple tradeoff method that would have allowed builders to continue using their preferred wall construction methods.