Building Policies and Codes

An energy code on paper only delivers its intended benefits when builders and jurisdictions have the tools, processes, and workforce to implement it effectively, so ACEEE works to improve not just what codes require, but how well they work in practice. We work at every stage of the process, from code development through adoption and implementation. Our work includes advancing energy-efficient codes at the federal, state, and local levels, analyzing cost-effectiveness and affordability, improving permitting and compliance, strengthening workforce capacity, and addressing issues such as grid-interactivity, resilience, and emerging technologies.

While energy codes establish an important baseline for new buildings, the work doesn’t end with construction. How a building is operated, maintained, and renovated determines whether it achieves its intended performance and continues to meet the needs of occupants, particularly as technologies, energy systems, and policy priorities change. And since the majority of buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built, policies aimed at improving our existing building stock are essential to reducing energy use while improving affordability and resilience.

For existing buildings, ACEEE advances policies that help owners and communities understand and improve how their buildings use energy. Benchmarking and transparency policies require building owners to measure and report energy use, while building performance standards and other performance-based policies establish long-term efficiency or emissions targets to keep buildings on track. ACEEE works with states, cities, and utilities to design and implement these policies effectively, including strategies to address affordability, support under-resourced buildings, provide practical and equitable compliance pathways, and connect building retrofits with broader energy and community goals.

By developing and supporting policies that advance energy-efficient construction while ensuring building performance is sustained and improved over time, ACEEE works to achieve better building performance, lower energy costs, and more comfortable and resilient homes and businesses.