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On March 20, the International Code Council (ICC) Board of Directors announced its decision in the ongoing International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) appeals process.  APGA’s appeal of a number of provisions in the standard resulted in the ICC Board moving the contested provisions to non-mandatory appendices and associated resources.

Recall that APGA filed an appeal of a number of concerning provisions that would limit or eliminate the direct use of natural gas, which were intended to be included in the soon-to-be-released 2024 IECC.  APGA staff argued for our appeals during the three-day appeals hearings on February 21-23, and again argued our case before the ICC Board on March 18.  Despite the ICC Appeals Board recommending that the ICC Board deny all appeals, the Board instead chose to affirm the appeals in part and reject the appeals in part.

To ensure alignment with the IECC’s scope and intent, the ICC Board decided to move a number of provisions from the base code of both the residential and commercial versions to non-mandatory appendices.  Such provisions involved requirements around heat pump products, demand response, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, electrical energy storage system readiness, solar readiness, and electric readiness.

Furthermore, the ICC Board also decided to remove a number of provisions from the code altogether and moved them to an associated resource “with a cautionary note,” as the ICC Board found them to pose a significant risk of federal preemption.  Such provisions included all-electric appendices and prescriptive glide paths to net zero.

APGA is pleased that the open and transparent appeals process has helped to ensure that the 2024 IECC can be confidently adopted across the country, while ensuring consumer choice.  Though the ICC Board was silent on a number of significant process irregularities in the standards development process, APGA is looking forward to engaging in the next iteration of the standard and working with ICC staff to improve the process.  

APGA also issued a press statement relating to this success, which is available here.

For questions on this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.