[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 85 (Thursday, May 2, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18833-18835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08963]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[EERE-2018-BT-DET-0014]


Preliminary Analysis Regarding Energy Efficiency Improvements in 
the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing the 
availability of a Preliminary Energy Savings Analysis of the 2018 
International Energy Conservation Code (Preliminary Analysis). DOE 
welcomes written comments from interested parties on any subject within 
the scope of this Preliminary Analysis.

DATES: DOE will accept written comments and information on the 
Preliminary Analysis no later than June 3, 2019.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the Preliminary Analysis is available at https://www.energycodes.gov/development/determinations.
    Any comments submitted must provide docket number EERE-2018-BT-DET-
0014. Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods:

[[Page 18834]]

    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected]. Include the docket number 
in the subject line of the message.
    3. Postal Mail: Building Energy Codes Program, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Building Technologies Office, EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue 
SW, EE-5B, Washington, DC 20585-0121. If possible, please submit all 
items on a CD, in which case it is not necessary to include printed 
copies.
    4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Building Energy Codes Program, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office, 950 L'Enfant Plaza 
SW, EE-5B, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20024.
    If possible, please submit all items on a CD, in which case it is 
not necessary to include printed copies. For detailed instructions on 
submitting comments, see section II of this document (Public 
Participation).
    Public Docket: The docket, which includes Federal Register notices, 
comments, and other supporting documents/materials, is available for 
review at http://www.regulations.gov. All documents in the docket are 
listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. However, some documents 
listed in the index, such as those containing information that is 
exempt from public disclosure, may not be publicly available. A link to 
the docket on the Regulations.gov site can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2018-BT-DET-0014. The 
Regulations.gov web page will contain instructions on how to access all 
documents, including public comments, in the docket. See section II for 
further information on how to submit comments through Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeremiah Williams; U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW, EE-5B, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 441-1288; 
[email protected].
    For legal issues, please contact Kavita Vaidyanathan; U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 1000 Independence 
Avenue SW, GC-33, Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-0669; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background
II. Public Participation

I. Background

    Title III of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended 
(ECPA), establishes requirements for building energy conservation 
standards, administered by the DOE Building Energy Codes Program. (42 
U.S.C. 6831 et seq.) Section 304(a)(5)(A), as amended, of ECPA provides 
that whenever the CABO Model Energy Code, or any successor to that 
code, is revised, the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) must make a 
determination, not later than 12 months after such revision, whether 
the revised code would improve energy efficiency in residential 
buildings, and must publish notice of such determination in the Federal 
Register. (42 U.S.C. 6833(a)(5)(A)) The International Energy 
Conservation Code (IECC) is the contemporary successor to the CABO 
Model Energy Code specified in ECPA.
    The 2018 IECC (2018 edition), the most recent edition, was 
published in August 2017, triggering the statutorily-required DOE 
review process. The IECC is developed through an industry consensus 
process administered by the International Code Council (ICC). The ICC 
has an established program for regular review of the IECC, identifying 
whether proposed changes have energy and cost impacts, and 
incorporating changes approved by the ICC governmental voting body. 
Updated editions of the IECC are typically published every three years. 
More information on the ICC code development process is available at: 
https://www.iccsafe.org/codes-tech-support/codes/code-development-process/code-development-2/.

II. Discussion of Findings

    To meet the statutory requirement, DOE conducted a Preliminary 
Energy Savings Analysis of the 2018 International Energy Conservation 
Code (Preliminary Analysis) to quantify the expected energy savings 
associated with the 2018 IECC. The Preliminary Analysis indicates, of 
the 47 proposed code changes which directly impact energy use, 11 
changes resulted in a reduction of energy use, with 3 changes projected 
to increase energy use. The remaining 33 changes are projected to have 
no or limited effect on energy usage.

Preliminary Energy and Cost Savings Analysis

    DOE's Preliminary review and analysis of the 2018 IECC identified 
two key changes which result in the bulk of the energy savings 
associated with the updated code:
     RE31 (Fenestration): Lowers (improves) fenestration U-
factors in climate zones 3-8
     RE127 (Lighting): Increases high-efficacy lighting from 
75% to 90% of permanently installed fixtures in all homes.
    These changes are expected to have a significant and measurable 
impact on energy efficiency in residential buildings. These changes are 
expected to increase energy savings, impact a significant fraction of 
new homes, and can be reasonably quantified through the established 
methodology.
    Together, the key impacts identified above are expected to result 
in life-cycle cost savings ranging from a low of $398 in climate zone 1 
to a high of $1071 in climate zone 8. Expected payback ranges from 0.0 
years (immediate payback) in climate zones 1 and 2 to 1.8 years in 
climate zone 3. National average savings are $480 with a payback of 1.1 
years.
    More information on these two changes and their expected energy 
savings impacts are presented in a separate technical analysis, 
Preliminary Energy Savings Analysis: 2018 IECC Residential 
Requirements.\1\
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    \1\ https://www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2018_IECC_PreliminaryDetermination_TSD.pdf.
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Preliminary Determination of Impacts on Energy Efficiency

    Review of the 2018 IECC indicates the updated model code will 
increase energy efficiency in residential buildings. Residential 
buildings meeting the 2018 IECC (compared to the previous 2015 IECC 
edition) are expected to incur the following savings on a weighted 
national average basis:
     1.68 percent of annual site energy;
     1.91 percent of annual source energy, and;
     1.97 percent of annual energy costs.
    The full Preliminary Analysis, including an assessment of the 
expected energy and cost impacts, is available via the DOE Building 
Energy Codes Program: https://www.energycodes.gov/development/determinations.

Request for Comment on IECC Changes

    DOE welcomes written comments from interested parties on these 
technical documents and cost saving analysis.

III. Public Participation

    DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding the 
Preliminary Analysis no later than the date provided in the DATES 
section at the beginning of this notice. Interested parties may submit 
comments, data, and other information using any of the methods 
described in the ADDRESSES section at the beginning of this notice.

[[Page 18835]]

Submitting Comments via the Regulations.gov Website

    The Regulations.gov web page will require you to provide your name 
and contact information. Your contact information will be viewable to 
DOE Building Technologies Office staff only. Your contact information 
will not be publicly viewable, except for your first and last names, 
organization name (if any), and submitter representative name (if any). 
If your comment is not processed properly because of technical 
difficulties, DOE will use this information to contact you. If DOE 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot 
contact you for clarification, DOE may not be able to consider your 
comment.
    However, your contact information will be publicly viewable if you 
include it in the comment itself or in any documents attached to your 
comment. Any information that you do not want to be publicly viewable 
should not be included in your comment, nor in any document attached to 
your comment. Do not submit to http://www.regulations.gov information 
for which disclosure is restricted by statute, such as trade secrets 
and commercial or financial information (hereinafter referred to as 
Confidential Business Information (CBI)). Comments submitted through 
http://www.regulations.gov cannot be claimed as CBI. Comments received 
through the website will waive any CBI claims for the information 
submitted. For information on submitting CBI, see the Confidential 
Business Information section below.
    DOE processes submissions made through Regulations.gov before 
posting. Normally, comments will be posted within a few days of being 
submitted. However, if large volumes of comments are being processed 
simultaneously, your comment may not be viewable for up to several 
weeks. Please keep the comment tracking number that Regulations.gov 
provides after you have successfully uploaded your comment.

Submitting Comments via Email, Hand Delivery/Courier, or Mail

    Comments and documents submitted via email, hand delivery, or mail 
also will be posted to Regulations.gov. If you do not want your 
personal contact information to be publicly viewable, do not include it 
in your comment or any accompanying documents. Instead, provide your 
contact information in a cover letter, including your first and last 
names, email address, telephone number, and optional mailing address. 
The cover letter will not be publicly viewable as long as it does not 
include any comments.
    Include contact information each time you submit comments, data, 
documents, and other information to DOE. If you submit via mail or hand 
delivery/courier, please provide all items on a CD, if feasible. It is 
not necessary to submit printed copies. No facsimiles (faxes) will be 
accepted.
    Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE 
electronically should be provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or 
Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. Provide documents that 
are not secured, that are written in English, and that are free of any 
defects or viruses. Documents should not contain special characters or 
any form of encryption and, if possible, they should carry the 
electronic signature of the author.

Campaign Form Letters

    Please submit campaign form letters by the originating organization 
in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters per PDF or as one form 
letter with a list of supporters' names compiled into one or more PDFs. 
This reduces comment processing and posting time.

Confidential Business Information

    According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that 
he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public 
disclosure should submit via email, postal mail, or hand delivery/
courier two well-marked copies: One copy of the document marked 
confidential including all the information believed to be confidential, 
and one copy of the document marked non-confidential with the 
information believed to be confidential deleted. Submit these documents 
via email or on a CD, if feasible. DOE will make its own determination 
about the confidential status of the information and treat it according 
to its determination.
    Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat 
submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the 
items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as 
confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is 
generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the 
information has previously been made available to others without 
obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the 
competitive injury to the submitting person which would result from 
public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its 
confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why 
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest.
    It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public 
docket, without change and as received, including any personal 
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be 
exempt from public disclosure).

    Signed in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2019.
David Nemtzow,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2019-08963 Filed 5-1-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P