As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $90 million in competitive awards to help states, cities, Tribal Nations, and their partners implement updated energy codes for residential and commercial buildings. Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these awards will support 25 new projects across the country to help ensure buildings meet the latest standards for energy efficiency—lowering energy bills for American families and businesses while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions and advancing environmental justice. Analysis from several DOE National Labs shows that building energy codes make the electric grid more resilient and help save lives during extreme weather events and extended power outages. Along with the $240 million in new funding recently selected through the Inflation Reduction Act to support the implementation of modern building codes, the announcement underscores the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to lowering energy costs and ensuring communities are more resilient to extreme weather events fueled by climate change.
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues to use all the tools at our disposal to lower energy costs to keep more money in the pockets of working families,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to the President’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is providing unprecedented assistance to states, cities, and Tribal Nations to implement modern building codes—delivering healthier, safer, and more resilient communities while slashing energy bills for families and businesses across the country.”
Homes built to today’s energy codes are 40% more efficient than homes built 15 years ago, making energy costs a smaller fraction of household expenses and insulating hard-working families and underserved communities from volatile fossil fuel prices. DOE estimates that from 2010 through 2040, energy codes are expected to save Americans $182 billion on utility bills and reduce 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions—an amount roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 187 million gasoline-powered cars.
Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation
The funding is part of the $225 million Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation (RECI) initiative established by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by DOE’s Building Technologies Office. This second installment of 25 selected projects builds on initial RECI funding of 27 projects totaling $90 million announced in July 2023. It will also help advance the implementation of DOE’s Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050: A National Blueprint for the Buildings Sector, which lays out a national strategy to significantly reduce building greenhouse gas emissions while providing affordable, equitable, and resilient solutions for communities across America.
The new cohort of RECI projects expands the geographic area and assistance provided under the initiative, supporting workforce development and other code-implementation solutions in high-impact states with substantial construction activity. The projects will also expand stakeholder engagement opportunities through tailored rural and regional collaboratives and develop new resources, standardized policies, and research and data collection methods to support jurisdictions across the country.
Selected projects include:
- Regional Energy Efficiency Organizations, Tribal Homeownership Coalition of the Southwest, Maine Governor’s Energy Office and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will establish a new rural codes collaborative, which will provide a forum and tailored programming to help overcome barriers to successfully implement energy codes and efficiency programs in rural and Tribal communities across the country bringing energy cost savings to rural communities and improving safety. (Award amount: $3.6 million)
- Slipstream, Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan and the Bay Mills Indian Community will work closely with Tribal Nations in Michigan to provide training and resources to assist with code adoption and implementation, as well as innovative approaches that can inform their energy, climate and resilience strategies for new and existing buildings. (Award amount: $2.8 million)
- 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. (Award amount: $2.2 million)
- New Buildings Institute, South-Central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource and Austin Energy 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. (Award amount: $1.6 million)
- Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources and the Rhode Island Builders Association will provide energy code training and educational resources to building inspectors, design professionals, builders, and construction trades in Rhode Island to support implementation of the latest energy codes. (Award amount: $1.6 million)
For a full list of projects supported under the RECI initiative, please click here.
To realize the benefits of updated energy codes, states and local governments need critical resources and expertise to train and grow workforces locally; identify and address implementation challenges; and invest in new and innovative tools. The new projects announced today will help meet those needs, in addition to traditional code support activities, such as education and training opportunities on the latest design and construction standards. These awards also augment many of the key activities already begun under RECI, including increased support for compliance and enforcement and ensuring equity and environmental justice. This program supports DOE’s work towards advancing the President’s?Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is accelerating the research, development, demonstration, and deployment of technologies and solutions to support President Biden’s ambitious plan to transition America to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. EERE is helping to ensure that the clean energy economy benefits all Americans, creating good-paying, high-quality jobs for the American people—especially workers and communities impacted by the energy transition and those historically underserved by the energy system and overburdened by pollution.?
For more information on DOE’s activities supporting building codes, visit the Building Energy Codes Program or see the original funding opportunity announcement
