The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced Wednesday a $90 million grant offer to support the development of state and local building energy codes to improve efficiency.
Selected as potential recipients are the District of Columbia and 26 states, including California, Pennsylvania and Illinois. “Awardees will provide technical assistance to update state and local building codes,” the DOE said in a news release.
“Modernizing energy codes is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses and make communities more resilient to extreme weather events, which are key to addressing the climate crisis and achieving the ambitious clean energy goals of the Biden-Harris Administration.” he added.
Among those chosen to continue the selection process, the American Council for Energy Efficiency has allocated $9.6 million to “establish a National Energy Codes Collaborative, which is a national capacity-building network that enables states and jurisdictions effectively and sustainably. implement updated and cost-effective energy codes through technical assistance, community engagement, the development of focused local strategies, and peer-to-peer collaboration and meetings,” the DOE said.
The Metropolitan Energy Center has a planned allocation of $6.8 million to “leverage its extensive multistate network of 30 regional, state, and local community partners not typically involved in energy code efforts to conduct outreach and workforce development in rural and disadvantaged communities.”
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources could receive $3.9 million for the development of “a comprehensive plan to support the adoption, implementation and compliance of the updated Stretch Building Energy Code and the specialized code throughout the ‘status’.
“These awards include a number of key activities that support energy code updating and implementation, including workforce development, community engagement, research and data collection, energy, environmental equity and justice, and greater support for compliance and enforcement,” the announcement said. “A key focal point will be to provide industry professionals with access to education and training opportunities on the latest building codes.”
The latest DOE assessment of the potential impact of building energy codes on efficiency said the residential and commercial sectors could save $6.05 billion annually in annual costs by 2030. Between 2010 and 2040, the cost savings could reach $138 billion, according to the July 2021 report. The addition of 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide could be reduced over the period.
The 130 million residential and commercial buildings in the US account for 35 percent of the nation’s total carbon emissions, the DOE noted.
“To achieve these immense cost-saving and public health benefits, it is critical that states and local governments update their building codes based on the latest technologies and construction practices and support their successful enforcement” , the department said in Wednesday’s funding announcement. “However, two out of three US communities have not adopted the latest building codes in part because of a lack of available resources to support their implementation.
“Today’s awards aim to address this challenge and help states and local governments across the country adopt and implement modern construction standards.”
On June 1, 2022, the Biden administration launched the National Initiative to Advance Building Codes that Advances Energy Efficiency and Climate Resilience. The initiative includes $225 million in funding from the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act, or the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, for DOE to facilitate the development of building energy codes.
“Reducing emissions from buildings across America and ensuring they are more energy efficient are critical components of President Biden’s plan to address the climate crisis and create cleaner, healthier communities,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer M Granholm in the DOE statement.
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