The past three years have seen historic levels of Federal standards activities, and 2024 will be a busy year as many of the standards that started years ago come to completion. We expect as many as 21 final rules in 2024, including water heating, which is on track to bet the largest appliance rule in the history of DOE’s Appliance and Equipment Standards Program.
Not to be outshined by appliance standards, building codes had a big Q1 as well. Washington state’s new commercial and residential code went into effect on March 15, 2024. Oregon’s residential code went into effect April 1, 2024, and its commercial code will be required for all buildings starting January 1, 2025. If that weren’t enough, the International Code Council (ICC) finalized its 2024 national model code for residential and commercial buildings. These milestones for building energy codes took nearly three years to complete and offer the states significant energy savings.
