Oregon Residential Code Compliance Evaluation

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc) and its subcontractors to conduct a residential code compliance evaluation that examined new construction single family homes built under the 2021 Oregon Residential Specialty Code (ORSC). The evaluation looked at whole-home and measure-level compliance with the code, opportunities to increase compliance with the code, and primary space and water heating fuel selection. 

From February 2024 to April 2025, IEc collected data on 254 homes from multiple data sources, including site visits, permits and plan sets, the Energy Trust’s EPS™ database of above-code homes, and surveys of residents. Energy modeling analysis indicated that 91.4% of homes built under the 2021 ORSC comply with the code, an increase from NEEA’s previously reported 89% compliance rate under the 2017 ORSC, and that improving envelop tightness had the highest potential for energy savings if non-compliant homes were brought to code-minimum levels. The study also found an increase in the number of homes with electric primary space and water heating compared with those built under the previous code (the 2017 ORSC).