THE EVOLUTION OF

BUILDING ENERGY CODES

AND TIPS TO PREPARE FOR
NEW UPDATES IN 2022
GOVERNMENT ENERGY CODES
AND THE PUSH FOR IMPROVED
BUILDING EFFICIENCIES

1 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
As a whole, the buildings sector amounts to
roughly 40% of all energy consumption and
associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
across the global economy. The recent
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) report states that drastic change is
needed to bring carbon emissions down to
zero by 2050 and limit global warming to
1.5oC. When leaders are looking to find ways
to decarbonize and meet global climate goals,
they often look to the generation of clean
energy to replace carbon-intensive fossil
fuels. While this aspect of the climate fight
is crucial, cutting unnecessary energy waste
and optimizing energy efficiency in buildings
must also become a top priority. When
less energy is consumed on a regular basis,
building power systems can be transitioned
more quickly to clean energy sources.
However, with energy demand rising out of
control, the burning of oil, coal, and gas will
be necessary to feed electricity to the world’s
buildings. Due to increased population
growth and rapid global urbanization, energy
demand is only set to grow substantially. The
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
forecasts 30% growth in the U.S. and 47%
globally by 2050. Every effort to minimize
that growth will significantly benefit the
environment.
The architecture, engineering, and
construction (AEC) industry has a major role
to play in reaching national and international
sustainability targets. While building owners
are incentivized to install efficiency measures
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 to reduce their power bills, and the construction
industry sees the value that efficiency brings
in higher-paying clientele, these incentives
have not been enough to push building energy
efficiency improvements at the necessary rate.
Every building constructed without factoring
in energy use in the early stages of design
will most likely miss out on energy savings for
the lifetime of the building. Owners do have
the option to implement upgrades or retrofit
a building at a later date, but this is often a
more tedious and costly endeavor than just
designing for efficiency in the first place.
3 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
To usher in these necessary changes, building
energy codes are becoming more stringent
and the entire building sector must implement
new strategies to minimize energy waste
and comply with building regulations. In this
e-book, we will outline the role of government
in energy efficiency, how building energy
codes have evolved in recent years, and key
tips on how architects and engineers can be
proactive in improving their workflows to
meet energy targets moving into 2022.
The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
Role of Government
The landscape of building energy codes is
composed of a natural patchwork of policy,
requirements, stakeholders, and regulatory
bodies. State, and local governments play a key
role in mandating well-tested and authoritative
building energy codes and often look to energy
efficiency and construction experts as well as
residents to determine the best standards for
their jurisdiction.
For example, Boston recently passed the
Equitable Building Performance Standard
to require the largest buildings to meet
increasingly aggressive emissions targets
over time. This policy will play a major role in
ensuring the city meets its goal to be net zero
by 2050. Boston’s Environment Department
set out to ensure the process was transparent,
soliciting feedback from residents most
impacted by pollution and climate change.
Typically, local and state governments have
the greatest level of success in building energy
code actions because they can speak to the
needs of both the buildings and occupants
in their jurisdiction. The United States has
a vast and diverse geography and different
regions carry unique needs in terms of energy,
heating/cooling, etc. That said, the federal
government is starting to get more involved in
building energy codes as the race to net-zero
carbon heats up, and the urgency for climate
action becomes more real.
When campaigning in 2020, now-President Joe
Biden’s Clean Energy Plan outlined building
energy use as a key area of focus. The overview
goals of the plan were encompassed in its title:
Build a Modern, Sustainable Infrastructure
and an Equitable Clean Energy Future. As a
part of these efforts, Biden promised to put
an unprecedented investment ($2 trillion of
accelerated investment) into the clean energy
economy, an action that would create new
long-lasting and well-paying green jobs, work
towards a carbon-free electric power sector by
2025 on the path towards a net-zero emissions
economy by mid-century (in line with 2050
global Paris Agreement goals). When it came
time to outline what role he saw the buildings
sector playing in these goals of a clean energy
transformation under a Biden Administration,
he noted a plan to:
“ Upgrade 4 million buildings and weatherize 2 million
homes over 4 years, creating at least 1 million good-
paying jobs with a choice to join a union; and also
spur the building retrofit and efficient-appliance
manufacturing supply chain by funding direct cash
rebates and low-cost financing to upgrade and electrify
home appliances and install more efficient windows,
which will cut residential energy bills
Spur the construction of 1.5 million sustainable homes
and housing units.
To accomplish these goals, the administration
may choose to issue an Executive Order,
place it on the legislative agenda, and direct
investments in new technology, R&D, and other
measures to usher energy codes along. The
recent infrastructure bill is another example
that would include $225 million for grants to
states and other entities for implementation
of building energy codes.
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 Landscape of Building Energy Codes
and Industry Standards
There are numerous local, state, national,
international, and even industry-specific
entities that regularly release energy code
regulations and guidelines. As building
energy codes continue to be leveraged as a
tool towards energy efficiency, stakeholders
must recognize their dynamic nature and
be prepared to update their processes as
5 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
guidelines evolve. These regular updates help
the AEC industry continuously improve the
energy efficiency of buildings, but it can also
be challenging for designers to keep up with
the latest developments. Heading into 2022,
here are the top six building energy code
upgrades and improvements that are expected
to be released:
The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
1. ASHRAE
ASHRAE is the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers,
and the organization has been at the forefront
of efficient building design and requirements
for many years. Specifically, the ASHRAE
90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except
Low-rise Residential Buildings is one of the
most influential building energy standards
internationally, as different governmental bodies
utilize ASHRAE 90.1 as their default code rather
than developing codes of their own.
After its first publication in 1975, this building
standard has been continually updated,
including the most recent updates in 2004, 2007,
2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019. According to that
pattern, ASHRAE 90.1 is due to be updated in
2022 to push the minimum requirements higher
based on what technologies have become more
affordable and what techniques have been
developed.
Also important to note is the fact that the
adoption of ASHRAE 90.1 by states is required
by the federal policy known as the Energy
Conservation and Production Act (ECPA).
However, most states use outdated versions of
the standard, resulting in buildings with higher
energy needs and costs than they would have
been had they relied on the latest updates. Not
only will ASHRAE update their standards, but
there will be a push in individual states to move
toward more recent versions of the standard.
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 2. TITLE 24

Title 24 is the building energy efficiency

standards in the state of California, outlining
ways to reduce wasteful and unnecessary
energy consumption in both new and existing
buildings. In many ways, California’s energy
policy is the example set for the rest of the
country, highlighting what’s possible and
demonstrating the positive impacts, while also
creating wider influence across the industry.
For example, California car efficiency rules end
up dictating the minimum efficiency of all the
cars sold in the United States.

Similar to ASHRAE 90.1, Title 24 operates

under a three year update schedule, and 2022
is the next due date for updates, which include
updates in four key areas:

1. Encouraging electric heat pump use

2. Establishing electric-ready requirements for

when natural gas is installed

3. Expanding standards for solar and energy

storage

4. Strengthening ventilation standards to

improve indoor air quality

7 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
3. IECC
IECC is the International Energy Conservation
Code, which is often referred to as America’s
model energy code because of how often it’s
utilized by states who want to integrate industry
best practices. The first IECC standards were
published in 2009, and since then it has been
updated quite frequently. The most recent
version of these energy codes was released in
2018, providing only marginal improvements
over the previous version of 2015, but the soon-
to-be-initiated 2021 updates are poised to be
the greatest improvement to the code in years.
The key areas being updated are extensive,
including the building envelope, HVAC systems,
lighting and power, renewable energy sources,
and more.
4. NYCECC
NYCECC is the New York City Energy
Conservation Code, and what California is trying
to be as a leading state, New York City is doing
on the city level. First instituted in 2011, and
since updated in 2014, 2016, and 2020, these
codes are by law more stringent than the state
level codes and are fine tuned to the specific
challenges faced by energy waste in New York
City buildings, recognizing the specific climate,
space restrictions, costs, and more.
Those behind NYCECC are always looking
forward as well, and according to New York
City Local Law 32, the NYCECC will be updated
in 2022 to comply with the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority’s
(NYSERDA) model stretch energy code known
as NYStretch. This change pushes the envelope
to optimize sustainability and green building
benchmarks, surpassing anything else on the
state, national, or international market today.
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 5. CBES

CBES is the Commercial Building Energy

Standard that regulates energy requirements
in Vermont commercial buildings, which are
particularly important compared with residential
buildings because of higher energy footprints
and the opportunity for improvements. First
enacted in 2006, this building energy code has
been updated as recently as 2020 to improve
the state’s standards and decarbonize its grid,
especially during the robust and cold winters it
experiences.

6. WASHINGTON STATE
ENERGY CODES

Washington is another state often at the

forefront of energy efficiency initiatives, and
the latest iteration was the 2018 Washington
State Energy Code. These standards were first
published in 2003 and the latest iteration of
2021 includes updates such as new compliance
pathways; changing how building performance is
calculated; updating critical definitions; offering
mandatory air leakage testing; and instituting
‘extra efficiency credits.’

9 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
 Architects and Engineers Keeping Pace
Building codes are a crucial component of any Keeping up with new, changing, and emerging
successful energy policy because they create energy codes can be a challenge for architects
easy-to-understand minimum requirements and engineers, as well as any stakeholder
for all new construction. By adopting building across the construction industry, but it is
energy codes, state and local governments crucial to combat the climate crisis and meet
are able to create baseline energy targets mandatory and/or incentivized building
where they can compare current and future requirements. To stay on top of these ever-
performance metrics and measure success. evolving issues, here are few key areas to
Even though evolving energy codes often implement into building design workflows:
make the design process more complex for
designers, the AEC industry benefits from
more cost-effective buildings, long-term
sustainability and resiliency, significant
reduction in carbon emissions, as well as cost
and energy savings for building owners.

10 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
 1. SOFTWARE TOOLS
There are a variety of tools designers can use
to improve energy efficiency including building
information modeling (BIM), energy modeling,
data analysis and visualization tools, and other
automated design tools. Determining a planned
building’s expected energy use (which in some
jurisdictions translates directly to regulated
energy scores) is critical to identify hot spots
of wasted energy and implement strategies
to eliminate them early in the building design
process.
Especially in early-stage design of buildings,
software analysis for energy modeling,
conceptualizing, and improving the energy
11 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
systems of a building cannot be overlooked.
Software tools can be indispensable to architects
and engineers for incorporating sustainability
techniques into all aspects of early stage building
designs: efficient appliance and equipment,
maximizing daylighting opportunities, passive
heat management, including smart technologies
like sensors and smart plugs, and more. By
modeling the availability and impact of these
measures, building designers will have the full
suite of options at their fingertips. In addition,
early-stage energy modeling can provide
confidence for design teams that their project is
on track to meet the latest code requirements.
 2. TAPPING INTO
INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
In addition to the technical advantage that
software can provide, the value of having experts
involved in every step of the process cannot be
overstated. Data analysis can look at expected
energy consumption, but in the management of
building projects it’s critical to keep abreast of
all the changing energy regulations (including
all the aforementioned building energy code
changes and the ones that will be continually
updated every few years), newly developing
technologies and strategies, and making expert
decisions based on experience, intuition, and
lessons learned from past projects.
Industry leading experts can pinpoint the best
sustainability options for buildings to not just
keep pace with regulation, but to be at the
cutting edge of the buildings sector for the
benefit of clients, building owners, occupants,
and the good of the planet. Expertise is also
crucial when balancing energy efficiency with
other aspects of sustainable design such as
improved indoor air quality.

12 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
 Conclusion
The buildings sector is easily among the most
critical areas for sustainability in 2021 and
beyond. Reducing unnecessary energy waste
is one of the rare true win-wins: architects can
sell their buildings for more money; building
owners are willing to pay more for the facilities
because they attract higher-paying occupants;
occupants love the efficiency updates because
it saves them money on their energy bills; and
even the utilities that provide the building with
electricity benefit from reduced pressure on
their systems.
13 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022
In these efforts towards efficiency, building
energy codes are the key governmental tool to
ensure progress in building energy efficiency
doesn’t stall. Indeed, energy codes across the
world see regular updates and refreshes to
reflect the new and emerging technologies
that allow further improvements. Stakeholders
in this sector must recognize this constant
improvement and always focus on the potential
efficiency gains available moving forward and
integrate sustainability in every aspect of the
building design process.
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12 14 The Evolution of Building Energy Codes and Tips to Prepare for New Updates in 2022