Methodology for Residential Building Energy Simulations Implemented in the International Code Compliance Calculator (IC3)

Abstract

Since 2001, Texas has been proactive in initiating clean air and energy efficiency in building policies. The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan legislation (SB 5, 77TH Leg., 2001) mandates statewide adoption of energy codes, creates a 5% annual energy savings goal for public facilities in affected counties through 2007 and provides approximately $150 million in cash incentives for clean diesel emissions grants and energy research. The Texas Legislation extended this annual electric reduction goal in public facilities through 2013. Texas was the first state in the nation to create NOx emissions reduction credits for energy efficiency and renewable energy through the State Implementation Plan under the Federal Clean Air Act. This paper presents the methodology for calculating the energy usage from a proposed residential house and the corresponding 2001 International Energy Conservation Code baseline house. This methodology is applied in the International Code Compliance Calculator, which is a publicly accessible web-based energy code compliance software developed by the Energy Systems Laboratory based on the Texas Building Energy Performance Standards. This calculator evaluates and certifies above-code compliance for homes in Texas. It also calculates NOx, SOx and CO2 emissions reductions from the energy savings of the proposed house for the electric utility associated with the user using the data from the Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database provided by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.