Abstract
Building codes, if complied with, have the ability to save a substantial amount of energy. However, energy code compliance rates have been notably lower than 100 %. Although there are many reasons for lack of compliance, funding and cost may play an important role. The incremental cost of the construction measures needed to comply with building energy codes has been well documented, but the cost of enforcing the energy code has received little attention. In order to estimate the costs of enforcement at the local level, and to inform a national dialog in the USA about the investment needed to improve compliance with building energy codes, researchers initiated a two-phase study. Phase 1 was a literature review, conducted in early 2013, covering more than 150 documents. Phase 2 comprised surveys of 17 general and 23 local experts, from May to July 2013. Phase 2 found the incremental cost of enforcing residential and commercial energy codes using a traditional plan review, and inspection process ranged from typically $50 or less per home to nearly $200, and from typically less than $150 per commercial building to over $1000, exclusive of overhead and travel. Other activities associated with enforcement and improving compliance (such as performance testing, use of voluntary programs, training, and outreach) involve additional costs that are also reviewed in this paper.
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For more information on the Compliance Planning Assistance Program, see http://energycodesocean.org/compliance-planning-assistance-program
See Williams et al. 2014 for a full list of jurisdictions.
For a general description of the building code compliance and enforcement process at the local level, see Misuriello et al. 2010.
While the phase 1 literature review covered over 150 documents, only 7 included specific time or cost information for traditional energy code enforcement activities (plan review and inspection) at the local level; these reports are all referenced in this paper.
Hours spent on meetings, paperwork, and so on not directly tied to energy code reviews and inspections
See Williams et al. (2014) for a review of re-inspection rates in various jurisdictions.
Numbers in brackets indicate the number of experts reporting a response.
ACCA Manual J: Residential Load Calculation; ACCA Manual S: Residential Equipment Selection; ACCA Manual D: Residential Duct Systems (ACCA 2014)
REScheck is a software tool developed by DOE to “simplify and clarify” energy code compliance for residential building projects (DOE 2013b).
Inspections including energy code requirements may include foundation, framing, trade rough-ins (e.g., mechanical, plumbing, electrical), insulation, drywall, trade final, and building final (BCAP, SEEA, and Southface 2012). Not all jurisdictions may require all these inspections, as they can be difficult to schedule and each site visit results in increased costs; some inspections may be combined into one site visit. Some jurisdictions may also be reporting site visits for re-inspections where non-compliance was found on the first visit.
The maximum referred to here is the high end of the range provided to us by a respondent. It does not always indicate the absolute maximum in the jurisdiction; it may be the maximum of their best estimate of average.
COMcheck is a software tool developed by DOE to “simplify and clarify” energy code compliance for commercial building projects (DOE 2013b).
Performance testing is required by the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and therefore is mandatory in jurisdictions that have adopted that code, but it supplements, rather than replaces, traditional plan review and inspection.
The 2015 IECC will allow a HERS Index Score to be used as a voluntary performance compliance path.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the survey respondents for their participation; Mary James and Moya Melody, of LBNL, for editing assistance on the LBNL reports; and Jeremiah Williams, of DOE, for review of the LBNL reports. The authors also thank Krishnan Gowri and Megan Dawe for their review comments on an earlier version of this conference paper. Any errors or omissions are the authors’ own. This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs, of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.
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Vine, E., Williams, A. & Price, S. The cost of enforcing building energy codes: an examination of traditional and alternative enforcement processes. Energy Efficiency 10, 717–728 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-016-9483-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-016-9483-2