Codes to Cleaner Buildings

Building energy codes are used worldwide to promote energy efficiency in buildings. Although these codes are widespread and have the potential to yield high energy savings, few analyses have measured their impact of using energy consumption data. Instead, most impact analyses employ building simulation models. These models typically make strong assumptions, most notably that code compliance is perfect and that codes do not affect the behavior of building occupants. In this paper, we assess the impact of state energy codes using residential energy use data at the state level. By conducting a regression analysis comparing states with building energy codes to those without, we measure the realized energy savings of energy codes and compare them to the modeled estimates.