Update on the Development Schedule for the 2027 Edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).

As previously reported,  AGA staff and BECS committee members are involved with the development process for the 2027 Edition of the IECC that has been going on since early this year. As a reminder, the ICC posted the Energy Complete Monograph for the 2027 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in January. To access the monograph, go to the Code Development Committee (CDC) page and click on the Energy Documents link on the right hand side of the page. From there, follow the file path to reach the monograph. Identical copies of the monograph are posted in both the Commercial and Residential “Resource” folder. (Note that the monograph is 1016 pages).  AGA has membership on both the IECC Residential Consensus Committee (Primary member Eric Tate of Atmos Energy with AGA consultant Gary Heikkinen is Eric’s Alternate). Kevin Duell from Northwest Natural has been appointed as the Primary voting member on the Commercial Consensus Committee with Ian Casey, also with Northwest Natural as his Alternate. The ICC Building Safety Journal has published an article today regarding the schedule of the current IECC code development cycle.  The article describes where they are currently and the following steps in the process up to the anticipated publication date of December 31, 2026 for the 2027 IECC.  To read the article, you can go to the following link: BSJ Article (2027 International Energy Conservation Code Development Schedule).  In addition, the ICC has announced the modification of the starting time and duration of the IECC Commercial Consensus Committee meetings. Specifically starting with the next meeting on April 9th, the meetings will start at 1:30 p.m. eastern time and run 3 hours to 4:30 p.m. eastern time.  The revised calendar is attached for your use and pinned on the IECC Consensus Committee website.  An updated agenda for the March 25th IECC Residential Consensus Committee has been posted on the IECC Consensus landing page.  In addition to the updated agenda, the circulation forms and modifications are posted on the site.  We will be reporting on the Residential and Commercial Consensus Committee actions on all proposals when available.

DOE Issues Final Rule Delaying Effective Date of Appliance Efficiency Standards for Gas-Fired Instantaneous Water Heaters to May 20, 2025.

In last week’s Update on End Use Codes and Standards, we reported on the AGA, the American Public Gas Association (APGA) and the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) filed comments in support of the DOE to delay the effective date of the Appliance Efficiency Standards for Gas-Fired Instantaneous Water Heaters. Yesterday, DOE issued a Federal Register Notice further delaying the effective date of a recently published final rule amending the energy conservation standards for gas-fired instantaneous water heaters until May 20, 2025.  We will be providing updates on all DOE additional actions they take on the minimum efficiency requirements for gas-fired instantaneous water heaters.