Mark Your Calendar
The next Building Energy Codes and Standards Committee (BECS) Meeting will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, January 14-15, 2026, at Sempra Headquarters downtown San Diego. Information regarding the hotels, meeting registration and preliminary agenda has been sent out this week. Please contact us if you have not received it.
AGA Submitting Comments on the 2027 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) Public Comment Draft.
The public comment period for the proposed 2027 International Energy Conservation Code closes on Monday, Dec 15, 2025. AGA BECS staff worked with BECS Committee members, IECC members, interested parties, and external stakeholders to develop comments on several problematic sections of both the commercial and residential sections of the code. Our comments reflect previous concerns discussed with the BECS Committee since the ICC initiated the process of developing the 2027 Edition of the IECC. They focus on holding the Consensus Committees responsible for meeting the IECC Scope and Intent by focusing on fuel-neutral energy efficiency measures and lifecycle cost effectiveness. Specifically, AGA is submitting comments (attached) in opposition to a new requirement approved by the Commercial consensus committee that would result in heat pumps being required for new construction where heating and cooling are needed. AGA is also opposing the use of inconsistent methodologies to develop the source energy factors in the Commercial code for the simulated performance pathway that result in a pro-electricity bias. Finally on the Commercial side, AGA is opposing a new nonmandatory appendix in the Commercial code that would promote electrification through the use of site energy metrics as the basis for all energy efficiency credits.
On the Residential side, AGA is submitting several comments in opposition to awarding energy efficiency credits to measures that have not been shown to provide any energy efficiency benefits, including many measures that were previously moved to nonmandatory appendices by the ICC Board of Directors during the 2024 appeals process. AGA is also submitting a comment to request that the energy efficiency credits associated with gas heat pumps be reviewed to ensure that GHPs are being appropriately credited for their superlative code climate performance. AGA is also opposing the expansion of the Residential nonmandatory “electric-ready” appendix to include space heating equipment. In addition to submitting comments to the IECC Consensus Committees, AGA will submit concurrent “Questions on Scope and Intent” on all items that were approved by the consensus committees without any justification of lifecycle cost effectiveness. The purpose of the “Questions” is to require the ICC Board of Directors to provide enforceable guidance regarding proposals that are clearly pro-electrification. The monograph is expected to be published the first week of January, with Consensus Committee meetings commencing mid-January. AGA Staff will review all of the public comments when they are available and update the BECS committee accordingly.
AHRI Releases October 2025 Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data.
For those interested in shipment trends for residential and commercial gas and electric storage type water heaters, residential gas and oil furnaces, electric heat pumps and air-conditioners, click here for the December 12, 2025 Air-Conditioning Heating, & Refrigeration (AHRI) Press Release that provides the October, 2025 U.S. Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data. For previous monthly shipment releases and historical data, please click here . You may also wish to share this information with other groups or individuals within your organization that would be interested in this shipment data.
State Codes Activity Update.
Attached is a weekly feature of the “Friday Update” covering state code calendar activities as presented by the online utility “Fiscal Note,” which is sponsored by APGA and AGA Code and Standards. Please review the update and determine if there are state code activities that impact your service territory or organization. AGA is evaluating the BECS memberships use and value of this information. Please advise us by December 15, 2025, of your experiences using this Update.
The American Gas Association represents more than 200 local energy companies committed to the safe and reliable delivery of clean natural gas to more than 73 million customers throughout the nation.
2026 BECS Committee Meeting Schedule
January 14-15, 2026, San Diego, California Hotel TBD
May 13-14, 2026, Portland, Maine Hotel TBD
September 16 -17, 2026, Wilmington, NC Hotel TBD