Project Overview
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program is conducting a series of research studies investigating energy code implementation in residential and commercial buildings. The goal of the study is to help document baseline practices, target areas for improvement, and quantify related savings potential. This information is intended to assist states in measuring energy code compliance and to identify areas of focus for future education & training initiatives.
As a part of this research project, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance conducted single-family residential studies in the states of Georgia, Arkansas, Virginia and Tennessee.
The goal of collecting this data is to determine whether an investment in building energy code education, training, and outreach can produce a measurable change in residential energy use. The project team’s approach will provide innovative resources and programming to help drive energy savings and lay a framework for establishing long-term strategies and funding from utilities and other non-governmental entities to support energy code related activities. Expected outcomes for this project include:
- Pre-project energy use baseline for single-family houses
- Clearly identified barriers to energy code compliance for single-family houses
- Deployment of education, training and outreach programs
- Post-project energy code compliance rate for single-family homes
- Assessment of innovative program approaches and replicable strategies to address identified market barriers
Project Highlights
- Results to be based on an energy metric and reported at the state-level
- Focuses on individual code requirements within new single-family homes
- Data confidentiality built into the experiment—no personal data will be shared
- Designed around a single site-visit prioritizing key items
- Designed with statistically significant results in mind
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected the following states in total to receive funding to address residential energy code compliance including: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska.