NMHC/NAA submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) commenting on proposed changes to the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The letter highlighted the uniqueness of multifamily development, as it incorporates aspects of both residential and commercial construction, and urged the department to consider sector-specific analysis of the energy code provisions, particularly in evaluating the cost effectiveness of some of the proposals. While the DOE recognizes the differences between residential building types by providing separate single-family and multifamily prototype models for use in energy savings calculations, the methodology fails to carry that differentiation through to the cost-effectiveness analysis.NMHC/NAA specifically outlined two dozen proposed changes in areas related to fenestration, heating and building envelope, to name a few, that likely would be problematic for the multifamily industry due to cost, technology and implementation considerations.
For more information, see this recent study examining the costs, benefits and practical limitations of the existing model energy codes.