The Department of Energy (DOE), Washington, DC, announced today that it has selected 24 states to receive a total of $7 million to support the adoption of updated, energy-efficient building codes. The funding will expand the existing partnerships between states and the federal government and help states to more rapidly adopt new residential and commercial building codes, as well increase compliance with those codes. This technical assistance through the Department’s Building Energy Codes program is being funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Recovery Act provided a new aim for DOE’s building codes efforts: 90 % compliance with energy code requirements for every state by 2017.
The Building Energy Codes Program is part of the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program, which works to develop technologies, techniques, and tools for making buildings more energy efficient, productive, and affordable. DOE works with other government agencies, state and local jurisdictions, national code organizations, and industry partners to promote more efficient building energy codes and provide assistance to those who are impacting energy code adoption and compliance.