Policy Watch
Legislation is among the strongest accelerants of high-performance home building. When building codes require zero-energy construction, or 100% renewable energy sources across residential housing, homeowners and builders are forced to adopt design and building practices that fall into compliance. “Policy Watch” documents evolving legislative measures to help inform homeowners, designers, builders, and construction industry leaders facing the challenge of building in new ways, to new standards. The objective is to keep pace with ever-changing building information needs by tracking policies that impact performance-minded designers, builders, and industry stakeholders.
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Maine’s Stretch Energy Code
Three municipalities adopt the state's first strectch code but enforcement of even the base code is lagging
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Illinois to Become Latest State to Release Its Own Stretch Energy Code
Municipalities can elect to adopt the new building-specific performance standard starting June 30, 2024
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A National Definition for Zero Emissions Buildings Is in the Works
The DOE is now soliciting feedback from industry professionals on approaches, benchmarks, and other concerns
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Policy Spotlight on Denver, Colorado
Leadership from the city’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a renewable grid and more
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Passive House Design is One Step Closer to Formal Standardization
ASHRAE 227P – Passive Building Design is now open for public comment
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The Newest Version of LEED Will Focus More on Performance Value and Decarbonization
USGBC has released the draft of LEED v5 system for operations + maintenance of existing buildings, with other categories to follow in 2024
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California’s Green Building Standards Code Is Amended to Include Embodied Carbon
The country’s most populous state commits to reducing embodied emissions for public and private buildings larger than 100,000 square feet
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To Code or Not to Code
The 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is near completion, but should consumer choice take precedent?
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ASHRAE 241 Targets Airborne Transmission of Pathogens and Infectious Aerosols
The new standard promotes resilient indoor environments supportive of human health and saftey
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It’s Either Net Zero or It’s Not
ASHRAE codifies evaluation standards for net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon building performance
