The International Code Council (ICC) has challenged the building industry to adopt the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). By the end of 2023, the IECC hopes to have over a third of the US population covered by the new building codes which promote efficiency and sustainability.
The challenge encourages members of the building industry to update their energy codes to meet or exceed the 2021 IECC.
The International Code Council is launching the Code on a Mission challenge to get over a third of the U.S. population covered by energy codes based on the 2021 IECC by the end of 2023.
“Reducing society’s greenhouse gas emissions is no longer a ‘nice-to-do’ but rather a critical necessity, and governments, communities, and the building industry as a whole are increasingly recognizing the contributions of buildings,” says Ryan Colker, vice president of innovation at the ICC. “Luckily, modern and innovative model building codes like the IECC have already been developed to significantly curb emissions and help achieve zero-energy buildings. We urge national, state, and local governments to accept our challenge and members of the building industry to support code updates.”
Many large players in the industry have shown their support for the initiative and the US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a statement that the residential codes contained in the 2021 IECC will provide a 9.4% improvement in energy efficiency and an 8.7% reduction in carbon emissions over the previous 2018 IECC. This will save homeowners an average of $2, 320 over the course of their mortgage.
Since 2006, the IECC codes have achieved a 40% improvement in energy efficiency which helps residents save money while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Checkout the IECC’s Fact Sheet for a summary of the improvements in the 2021 IECC.