Representatives from across the building industry, including code officials, building owners, manufacturers, designers and energy efficiency advocates, have come together under the leadership of the National Institute of Building Sciences to develop a new approach to meeting energy efficiency requirements. This “Outcome-based Pathway,” which the group submitted as a proposed code change to the International Green Construction Code (IgCC), appears in the monograph of IgCC proposed changes that the International Code Council released this past Friday, March 15, for public review. The industry group specifically focused on an outcome-based approach to address a number of challenges facing the building industry: Code departments have limited resources available to enforce building codes (particularly energy codes, which are not usually seen as a life safety issue). Energy use is highly measurable, yet current code pathways anticipate results from designs; they do not assess actual building performance. Designers do not have the flexibility to use some of the latest technologies or practices to achieve energy efficiency requirements. Not all energy-saving strategies, such as building orientation, are effectively captured in codes. Energy efficiency goals increasingly rely on reductions in energy use at the systems level, but the IECC has primarily focused on a component approach. A growing percentage of energy uses associated with buildings are not currently covered within the existing code framework (i.e., plug loads).
