Mark Your Calendar – The next BECS committee meeting will be held on May 7-8, 2025 at the “Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach Hotel”, 100 Coronado Dr, Clearwater, FL 33767 .  Detailed information on hotel registration, meeting agenda, etc. will be provided next week.

Information on the DOE Model Energy Code Determinations.

We have received a number of questions on DOE’s responsibility when new additions are finalized of the International Code Councils (ICC)  International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) residential requirements and the ASHRAE 90.1 commercial model energy standard requirements.  Specifically, “DOE is required by the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA), as amended, to review published editions of the national model energy codes—ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)—and issue a determination as to whether the updated edition will improve energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings, respectively. DOE is provided 12 months to conduct its review and publish its determination in the Federal Register after the updated model code is published.”  ECPA also requires States to review and/or update their energy codes following the publication of an affirmative DOE determination. Information on the latest DOE determinations is available from the DOE website here.  Because of the EPCA legislation mandating that the DOE issue a determination on both the latest editions of the ASHRAE 90.1 standard and the ICC IECC and bring it to the states for possible adoption, a major responsibility of the BECS Committee staff and members is to be involved and participate the development processes of both documents and to help ensure that the their requirements are cost effective and do not negatively impact the direct use of natural gas in homes and businesses.

April 10 AGA Webinar Invite | Protecting Our Frontline: Preventing Fieldworker Assaults.

For AGA members, building on existing initiatives to enhance field worker safety, AGA is launching a new campaign, Protecting the Frontline: Preventing Field Worker Assaults. To kick off the initiative, AGA will host the first in a series of webinars to raise awareness of the issue and feature case studies from AGA member companies.  The initial webinar will be held on Thursday, April 10, from 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET.  Attached is additional information and log-in registration information for the webinar.