New Energy Efficiency Standards for New Federal Buildings Established
New federal buildings will be required to achieve at least 30 percent greater energy efficiency over prevailing building codes, according to new regulations established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
New federal buildings will be required to achieve at least 30 percent greater energy efficiency over prevailing building codes, according to new regulations established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), these standards apply to new federal commercial and multi-family high-rise residential buildings, as well as new federal low-rise residential buildings designed for construction that began on or after January 3, 2007.
Over the course of the next 10 years, these standards are estimated to save taxpayers $776 million dollars (in 2004 dollars) and more than 40 trillion British thermal units of energy, while reducing emissions by an estimated 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
These standards are also 40 percent more efficient than the current Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Specifically, these standards replace existing Federal building energy efficiency standards found in 10 CFR Part 434 (for commercial and high-rise multi-family residential buildings) and 10 CFR Part 435 Subpart C (for low-rise residential buildings).
These new standards are based on the ANSI/ASHRAE/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America Standard 90.1-2004 for commercial and high-rise multi-family residential buildings and the 2004 version of the International Code Council International Energy Conservation Code for low-rise residential buildings.
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