by Dave Hewitt and Jessyca Henderson

Update: Local and state building code officials did approve a package of revisions to the commercial section of the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in late October, as recommended here. New and renovated buildings constructed in jurisdictions that use the new 2012 IECC are predicted to use 30 percent less energy than those built to current standards. —Editor

With today's conspicuous promotion of green building and sustainability, it is easy to forget that the bulk of commercial building design does exactly what it has always done: meet the local building energy code. While the resulting buildings are more energy efficient than if there were no code at all, they're far from the best we can do.

The potential collapse of any Congressional action to reduce energy consumption as part of climate change or energy legislation means the immediate opportunity for improving building efficiency standards falls into different hands: state and local building code officials.

These are the people who work every day to establish and enforce the rules on how we design and build buildings and their influence is far greater than most people know.

At the end of October, these local government representatives will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, to vote on changes to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), a national model for energy codes that is available for adoption by local jurisdictions across the country.

New Buildings Institute (NBI), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Energy have partnered on a comprehensive proposal for the commercial chapter of the IECC (EC 147) that will be considered at the Charlotte conference.   >>>

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The green roof atop the EPA Region 8 Headquarters building helps to reduce building heat gain, reducing energy use for cooling. Photo: Courtesy EPA Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 Headquarters in Denver, Colorado, is estimated by the Energy Star program to achieve energy savings of 52 percent compared to an average building of a similar type. Photo: Robert Canfield/ Courtesy ZGF Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.