The Energy Department (DOE) announced $90 million in funding for competitive awards to help states, cities, tribal nations, and their partners implement updated energy codes for residential and commercial buildings. Funded by the SWACCA-supported Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these awards will support 25 new projects across the country to help ensure buildings meet the latest standards for energy efficiency. The funding is part of the $225 million Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation (RECI) initiative that supports workforce development and other code-implementation solutions in high-impact states with substantial construction activity. The projects will also expand stakeholder engagement opportunities through tailored rural and regional collaboratives.
Selected projects include: (1) $2.2 million for the National Association of State Energy Officials to establish a new and replicable approach to evaluate the impact of building energy codes on resilience and pilot the strategy in Arizona and Florida; (2) $1.6 million to the New Buildings Institute, South-Central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource and Austin Energy to support the implementation of efficient and resilient energy codes in Texas and Oklahoma, including access to training on the latest codes; and (3) $1.6 million to the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources and the Rhode Island Builders Association to provide energy code training and educational resources to building inspectors, design professionals, builders, and construction trades in Rhode Island to support implementation of the latest energy codes. A full list of projects supported under the RECI initiative is available here.