<<Prev Document

Texas Register

Next Document>>
AGENCY Comptroller of Public Accounts
ISSUE 02/04/2022
ACTION Miscellaneous

Notice to Persons Interested in Energy Efficiency Building Codes for Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Construction - 2021

Pursuant to 34 TAC §19.52, this notice is provided to interested persons that the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) is accepting written comments on the energy efficiency provisions of the 2021 International Residential Code, promulgated by the International Code Council and published January 2021, for single-family residential construction. Additionally, this notice is provided to interested persons that SECO is accepting written comments on the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, promulgated by the International Code Council and published January 2021, for all commercial and industrial construction and in residential construction other than single-family residential construction.

To achieve energy conservation in single-family residential construction, Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(a), adopted the energy efficiency chapter of International Residential Code (IRC) as it existed on May 1, 2001, as the energy code for use in this state for all single-family residential construction. Effective September 1, 2016, Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(a), adopted the energy efficiency chapter of the IRC, as it existed on May 1, 2015, and as supplemented by Health and Safety Code, §388.003(i) and (j), as the energy code in this state for single-family residential construction as it is defined in Health and Safety Code, §388.002(12).

Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(a), currently authorizes SECO to adopt the latest published edition of the IRC based on written findings from the Energy Systems Laboratory at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System ("Laboratory"), regarding the stringency of that edition. In accordance with current law, SECO expects to receive written findings from the Laboratory regarding the stringency of the 2021 IRC (i.e., the latest published edition of the code), and may consider adopting the latest edition by rule and substituting it for the 2015 edition on the basis of those findings at a future date. Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(b-3), requires the Laboratory, in developing its findings, to consider written comments of interested parties that have been submitted to SECO within 30 days of the publication of this notice.

To achieve energy conservation in all commercial and industrial construction and in residential construction other than single-family residential construction, Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(b), adopted the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as it existed on May 1, 2001, as the energy code for use in this state for all such construction. Effective November 1, 2016, SECO adopted the IECC as it existed on May 1, 2015, as the energy code for all commercial and industrial construction and in residential construction other than single-family residential construction, pursuant to authority previously set forth under Texas Health and Safety Code §388.003(b-1) (repealed by Acts 2015, 84th Legislature, Chapter 541, Section 2(1), effective June 16, 2015), which allowed SECO to adopt the latest published edition of the IECC if SECO determined, based on written recommendations submitted by the Laboratory, that doing so would result in residential or commercial energy efficiency or air quality equivalent to or better than that achievable under the 2001 IECC.

Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(b), currently authorizes SECO to adopt the latest published edition of the IECC based on written findings from the Laboratory regarding the stringency of that edition. In accordance with current law, SECO expects to receive written findings from the Laboratory regarding the stringency of the 2021 IECC (i.e., the latest published edition of the code), and may consider adopting the latest edition by rule and substituting it for the 2015 edition on the basis of those findings at a future date. Texas Health and Safety Code, §388.003(b-3), requires the Laboratory, in developing its findings, to consider written comments of interested parties that have been submitted to SECO within 30 days of the publication of this notice.

Comments on the 2021 IECC and the energy efficiency chapter of the 2021 IRC are encouraged from any persons interested in energy efficiency building codes for residential, commercial, and industrial construction, including without limitation: commercial and residential builders; architects and engineers; municipal, county, and other local government authorities; environmental groups and manufacturers of building materials and products. Copies of the 2021 IECC and IRC as well as the 2015 IECC and IRC are available for purchase through International Code Council website https://shop.iccsafe.org/2021-international-energy-conservation-coder.html. Also, copies of these codes are available for viewing during regular business hours at the SECO office located at the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) State Office Building, 111 E. 17th Street, Suite 1114, Austin, Texas 78774. Written comments may be submitted in person at the SECO office, electronically through the SECO's electronic mail address 2021CodeComments@cpa.texas.gov, or through the United States Postal Service at the State Energy Conservation Office, Comptroller of Public Accounts, P.O. Box 13528, Austin, Texas 78711-3528.

All written comments submitted no later than 30 days following the publication date of this notice will be forwarded to the Laboratory by SECO.

Issued in Austin, Texas, on January 25, 2022.

TRD-202200277

Don Neal

General Counsel, Operations and Support Legal Services

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Filed: January 25, 2022



Next Page Previous Page

Link to Texas Secretary of State Home Page | link to Texas Register home page | link to Texas Administrative Code home page | link to Open Meetings home page