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 will be available in the near future.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Removes Support for its National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building.
On Wednesday, DOE announced in the Federal Register that it is removing support for its National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building issued under the Biden Administration, citing it conflicts with various Trump Administration Executive Orders. The announcement includes the following: “Additionally, removing support for the National Definition of Zero Emission Building is consistent with the Secretarial Order on ‘‘Unleashing the Golden Era of American Energy Dominance, which directs DOE actions in response to President Trump’s Executive orders to unleash American Energy. The Secretarial Order is broadly unsupportive of net-zero policies under the belief that they ‘‘raise energy costs for American families and businesses, threaten the reliability of our energy system, and undermine our energy and national security. The Department recommends that state or local government agencies and standard[1]setting bodies stop referencing or otherwise citing the national definition.” As background on this issue, on January 12, 2024 we reported in the BECS Update on End Use Codes and Standards that on January 2, 2024 the DOE Building Technologies Office (BTO) released a Request for Information (RFI) to “solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders of a draft National Definition for a Zero Emissions Building. As proposed, the definition that includes, “Free of on-site emissions from energy use” is a major concern for natural gas applications that essentially would prohibit the installation of natural gas appliances and equipment within the structure. On February 5, 2024, AGA filed the attached comments and answers to questions posed in the Federal Register Notice outlining concerns with the proposed DOE definition and specific reasons why the definition is not correct and the potential negative impact it would cause on natural gas applications if adopted in energy rules, regulations or energy codes and standards. Unfortunately, DOE left the definition in place. We are now pleased that the DOE has reversed its support for this National Definition and particularly its recommendation urging that it should not be referenced by “state or local government agencies and standard-setting bodies.”
International Code Council (ICC) Advisory Committee Overseeing a Study “Promoting Housing Affordability through the I-Codes “ to Meet in January.
The ICC has scheduled the kickoff meeting of its Advisory Committee (AC) for a study titled Promoting Housing Affordability through the I-Codes (BIRC) – ICC . According to the ICC, “Housing costs and affordability have become critical issues across the United States and many parts of the world. The Code Council supports development of the International Residential Code (IRC) through a consensus process involving stakeholders from throughout the home building industry. The IRC is updated every three years, resulting in incremental changes between each edition using consensus-based methods. Code Council policy requires each proposed change to include cost impact data, which serves as the basis for debate during code development hearings. Contemporary peer reviewed studies continue to find that building codes do not have meaningful implications on homes’ purchase price. However, some industry surveys and projections have suggested stronger interactions. Additional cost drivers often include land development regulations, local development charges, availability of skilled labor, material prices, and interest rates.” The study will span the next 10 months. As part of this initiative, the ICC formed the AC to “support the study team in fulfilling the objectives of the effort.” AGA’s Director, Building Codes and Standard’s Denise Beach has been appointed to the AC. The agenda for the Kickoff Meeting includes the following: 1. Provide an overview of the study’s goals, scope, and methodological approach. 2. Review the project timeline, major tasks, and milestones and 3. Outline communication expectations and next steps. The AC input is intended to help shape recommendations to the ICC Board of Directors for potential actions in the development of the 2030 IRC code cycle. We will provide updates on the progress of the study particularly on issues of potential impact on natural gas applications.
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.