On Sept. 16, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the awardees for $90 million in funding to help states, cities, tribal nations and their partners implement updated energy codes for residential and commercial buildings.

As part of the Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation (RECI) initiative, the awards support 25 new projects aimed at improving energy efficiency, lowering bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These projects also advance DOE’s goal of decarbonizing the U.S. economy by 2050, focusing on workforce development, community engagement and environmental justice.

Support Through the International Code Council
The International Code Council is a collaborating team member on seven projects to receive RECI funding. The Code Council will serve in varying capacities across the following projects: 

• Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships – will establish a national rural codes collaborative, which will provide a forum to develop, implement, and evaluate tailored programs that overcome various barriers to successfully adopting, implementing, and enforcing energy codes and efficiency programs in rural and tribal communities across the country. 
• Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance - will work collaboratively with communities in home-rule states and tribal nations to prioritize local needs, build support networks, and develop tools, resources, and workforce opportunities to aid the advancement and implementation of energy codes in Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 
• Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development - will develop and deploy a workforce development program aimed at increasing code compliance by facilitating targeted, in-person training for code professionals, contractors, and registered design professionals in Virginia. 
• Utah Clean Energy Alliance– will create and help implement low- and zero-emission voluntary stretch-code programs for municipalities across the U.S. Intermountain Region, which includes Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah.   
• National Association of State Energy Officials– will establish a new and replicable approach to evaluate the impact of building energy codes on resilience and pilot the strategy in Arizona and Florida. The project will generate empirical data on technology trends and practices exhibited in these regions, which will help inform industry education and training programs. 
• City of Tucson– will leverage the Resilient Southwest Building Code Collaborative to facilitate a statewide workforce development and training program to ensure the successful implementation of resilient and efficient codes throughout Arizona. 
• New Buildings Institute–  will support the implementation of efficient and resilient energy codes in Texas and Oklahoma. Access to training on the latest codes is especially important in the south-central region, since in recent years more homes have been built in Texas than in any other U.S. state. 

To learn more about the RECI awards, click here.  To view federal grant resources and support offered by the Code Council, click here.