[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 93 (Monday, May 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26710-26712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10291]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[EERE-2021-BT-DET-0010]


Preliminary Analysis Regarding Energy Efficiency Improvements in 
the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)

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

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing the 
availability of a Preliminary Energy Savings Analysis of the 2021 
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 16, 2021.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the Preliminary Analysis is available at https://www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021_IECC_PreliminaryDetermination_TSD.pdf. Interested persons are 
encouraged to submit comments using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments. Alternatively, interested persons may submit comments by 
email to the following address: [email protected]v. Include 
docket number EERE-2021-BT-DET-0010 and/or RIN number 1904-AF15 in the 
subject line of the message. Submit electronic comments in WordPerfect, 
Microsoft Word, PDF, or ASCII file format, and avoid the use of special 
characters or any form of encryption.
    Although DOE has routinely accepted public comment submissions 
through a variety of mechanisms, including postal mail and hand 
delivery/courier, the Department has found it necessary to make 
temporary modifications to the comment submission process in light of 
the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. DOE is currently accepting only 
electronic submissions at this time. If a commenter finds that this 
change poses an undue hardship, please the parties listed below to 
discuss the need for alternative arrangements. Once the Covid-19 
pandemic health emergency is resolved, DOE anticipates resuming all of 
its regular options for public comment submission, including postal 
mail and hand delivery/courier.
    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 http://www.regulations.gov site can be found at: 
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EERE-2021-BT-DET-0010. The 
http://www.regulations.gov web page will contain instructions on how to 
access all documents, including public comments, in the docket. See 
section III for further information on how to submit comments through 
http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Mr. Jeremiah Williams; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, EE-5B, 
Washington, DC 20585; (202) 287-1941; [email protected].
    Mr. Matthew Ring; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General 
Counsel, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, GC-33, Washington, DC 20585; 
(202) 586-2555; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Discussion of Findings
III. 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

[[Page 26711]]

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)) If the Secretary determines that the revision of 
the CABO Model Energy Code, or any successor thereof, improves the 
level of energy efficiency in residential buildings then, not later 
than two years after the date of the publication of such affirmative 
determination, each State is required to certify that it has reviewed 
its residential building code regarding energy efficiency, and made a 
determination as to whether it is appropriate to revise its code to 
meet or exceed the provisions of the successor code. (42 U.S.C. 
6833(a)(5)(B)) The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is the 
contemporary successor to the CABO Model Energy Code specified in ECPA.
    In addition, on January 20, 2021, the President issued Executive 
Order 13990, ``Protecting Public Health and the Environment and 
Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.'' 86 FR 7037 (Jan. 25, 
2021). The Executive Order directed DOE to consider publishing for 
notice and comment a proposed rule suspending, revising, or rescinding 
the final technical determination regarding the final technical 
determination regarding the 2018 IECC by May 2021. Id. at 86 FR 7038. 
In response, DOE has conducted this preliminary analysis of the 2021 
IECC so that DOE's determination under section 304(a) of ECPA reflects 
the most recent version of the IECC, and to facilitate State and local 
adoption of the 2021 IECC, which will provide greater energy savings 
for the nation's residential buildings.
    The 2021 IECC (2021 edition), the most recent edition of the IECC, 
was published on January 29, 2021, 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 public officials making up 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 2021 International Energy Conservation 
Code (Preliminary Analysis) to quantify the expected energy savings 
associated with the 2021 IECC. The Preliminary Analysis indicates, of 
the 35 proposed code changes which directly impact energy use, 29 
changes resulted in a reduction of energy use, with 6 changes projected 
to increase energy use.
    DOE's Preliminary review and analysis of the 2021 IECC identified 
11 key changes which 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. More information on these changes and their expected 
energy savings impacts are presented in a separate technical analysis, 
Preliminary Energy Savings Analysis: 2021 IECC for Residential 
Buildings.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ https://www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021_IECC_PreliminaryDetermination_TSD.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Review of the 2021 IECC indicates the updated model code will 
increase energy efficiency in residential buildings. Residential 
buildings meeting the 2021 IECC (compared to the previous 2018 IECC 
edition) are expected to incur the following annual savings on a 
weighted national average basis:
     9.38 percent of site energy;
     8.79 percent of source energy;
     8.66 percent of energy costs, and;
     8.66 percent of carbon emissions.
    The full Preliminary Analysis, including an assessment of the 
expected energy and energy cost impacts, is available via the DOE 
Building Energy Codes Program: https://www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021_IECC_PreliminaryDetermination_TSD.pdf. DOE 
welcomes written comments from interested parties on this preliminary 
determination and supporting technical analysis.
    States can experience significant benefits by updating their codes 
to reflect current construction standards, a total estimated $74.34 
billion in energy cost savings and 435.43 MMT of avoided CO2 
emissions in residential buildings (cumulative 2010 through 2040), or 
$3.14 billion in annual energy cost savings and 18.38 MMT in annual 
avoided CO2 emissions (annually by 2030).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ https://www.energycodes.gov/about/results. Financial 
benefits are calculated by applying historical and future fuel 
prices to site energy savings and by discounting future savings to 
2016 dollars. Historical and future real fuel prices are obtained 
through EIA's AEO 2015 report (EIA 2015). A real discount factor of 
5% is applied to discount future energy cost savings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Submitting Comments via http://www.regulations.gov

    The http://www.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 http://www.regulations.gov

[[Page 26712]]

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 http://www.regulations.gov provides after you have successfully uploaded your 
comment.

Submitting Comments via Email

    Comments and documents submitted via email also will be posted to 
http://www.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. 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 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. DOE will make its own determination 
about the confidential status of the information and treat it according 
to its determination.
    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).

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on May 10, 
2021, by Kelly Speakes-Backman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 
and Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable 
Energy, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. 
That document with the original signature and date is maintained by 
DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with 
requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE 
Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit 
the document in electronic format for publication, as an official 
document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no 
way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, May 12, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-10291 Filed 5-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P