Building Codes Assistance Project

The history of national model energy codes for buildings began in the 1970s, largely as a result of the energy and economic crises that were prevalent at the time. Historically high oil prices and economic shocks that hit the United States prompted Congress to pass the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) in 1975. One of the act's primary objectives was petroleum price regulation and allocation. In 1978, an amendment was passed requiring states receiving financial assistance from the federal government to initiate "mandatory programs and measures, including: (1) energy conservation standards for new buildings".

The next major piece of legislation to affect codes was the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992. EPAct amended the EPCA, establishing a role for the Department of Energy (DOE) to determine whether or not the 1992 Council of American Building Officials (CABO) Model Energy Code (MEC) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1-1989 would improve energy efficiency for residential and commercial buildings respectively. This also applied to subsequent revisions of those codes, and is the basis on which DOE is required to make a determination within 12 months of the revision of the respective energy codes. Once a positive determination is published in the Federal Register, each state has 2 years to certify that it has made revisions to its own energy code, so that it meets or exceeds the requirements of the latest iteration of the national models. A state may decline to adopt a residential energy code by submitting a statement to the Secretary of the DOE, detailing its reasons for doing so. The CABO MEC was last promulgated in 1995 and has since been replaced by the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).

On January 4th 2001, the DOE issued a determination that the 1998 and 2000 IECC will improve on energy efficiency. On July 15th 2002, a positive determination was issued for ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999.