Building energy codes in the U.S. will produce a cumulative savings on energy costs of $126 billion from 2010-2040, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The savings from both the commercial and residential sectors is based on a projected of a reduction of 12.82 quads of primary energy. That would mean 841 million metric tons of avoided CO2 emissions.
Actual building energy usage would likely be lower than this projection, as savings from beyond-code programs that may be active in states are not counted towards energy codes used to make these projections. In addition, savings resulting from improvements in equipment efficiency due to federally mandated requirements were not included in the analysis.
The most recent three editions of the IECC and ASHRAE Standard 90.1 have the potential to generate almost a 30% reduction in energy use compared to codes a decade ago, DOE’s report states.
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