Energy Code Changes Could Slow Industry's/Economy's Recovery

HARDI has prepared a summary of the key provisions identified in current House and Senate energy legislation to highlight potential challenges and opportunities for HVACR distributors. Much of the summary focuses on proposed national energy code targets and mandates that could send the cost of new construction and renovation projects through the roof and stifle energy efficiency incentive programs; all while eroding the federal appliance standards and the prominence of IECC's and ASHRAE's consensus-based code standards development processes. It is possible that out of nearly 700 pages of legislative text in the House's Waxman-Markey bill which includes a massive carbon and HFC cap-and-trade system, the Title II, Sec. 201 on national building energy codes could be the most important to our industry.