California Energy Efficiency Standards Excel

California continues to lead the nation and the world in energy efficiency standards as the state gets more bang for the buck when managing energy usage in buildings.

The review, conducted by the California Energy Commission, compared California’s 2016 Building Energy Efficiency Standards to international standards set in 2015. The comparison is required by the federal government.

The comparison found a 29 percent annual energy savings from California standards over international standards. The state standards saved enough electricity to power 300,000 additional homes annually, according to the report, which was presented at the June 14 business meeting.

“While significant improvements have been made to the energy stringency levels of the national reference energy codes, California’s residential energy standards contain building measures and performance operation impacts that are more rigorous, resulting in higher efficiency levels,” the report’s authors wrote.

The building standards, which were adopted in 1978, are developed through a public process to gather input and reach consensus on efficiency measures.

Every three years, the Energy Commission establishes minimum energy efficiency standards for new building construction that is technically and economically feasible. The Energy Commission is working on the 2019 standards.

Standards are designed to save consumers money and reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, while creating clean energy jobs in California.