The International Code Council releases a new framework to address the energy efficiency needs across the entire building industry.

The International Code Council released a new framework — Leading the Way to Energy Efficiency: A Path Forward on Energy and Sustainability to Confront a Changing Climate — to assist in meeting energy efficiency goals. The framework includes using the Code Council’s ANSI-approved standards process to update the International Energy Conservation Code.

The International Code Council, the leading global source of model codes and standards and building safety solutions, released a new framework to assist governments and building industry stakeholders in meeting energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction goals.

The Code Council Board of Directors — which consists of 18 government code officials who were elected by their peers — adopted the framework Leading the Way to Energy Efficiency: A Path Forward on Energy and Sustainability to Confront a Changing Climate. This framework includes using the Code Council’s American National Standards Institute approved standards process to update the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).

Future editions of the IECC will build on prior successes, including an increase of efficiency requirements by about 40 percent, or an average of eight percent a cycle from 2006 to 2021, allowing the IECC to remain a strong avenue for communities to reach their energy efficiency and sustainability goals globally. With the base 2021 IECC efficiency requirements just 10 percent away from net-zero for residential buildings, under the new framework future editions of the IECC will increase base efficiency using a balancing test proposed in bipartisan legislation that has cleared the U.S. House and Senate and has been supported by energy efficiency advocates and the building industry.