{"id":983,"date":"2026-07-09T14:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=983"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:10:13","slug":"administrations-fuzzy-math-will-undermine-energy-efficiency-savings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=983","title":{"rendered":"Administration\u2019s Fuzzy Math Will Undermine Energy Efficiency Savings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This story was originally published by\u00a0<\/em>Canary Media\u00a0and is reproduced here as part of the\u00a0<\/em>Climate Desk\u00a0collaboration.<\/em><\/p>

Read more Trump Can\u2019t Stop Talking About Communists<\/a><\/p>\n

Energy efficiency standards<\/span> can make it more expensive to construct new buildings, but they save money for residents in the long run. In a\u00a0new analysis, the Trump administration ignored the second half of that equation\u2014a\u00a0move that energy experts fear could undermine efficiency efforts nationwide.<\/p>\n

Late last month, the US Department of Energy announced it found that if every state adopted the model\u00a02024\u00a0International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) instead of following a\u00a020-year-old building code, the move would drive up housing construction costs by\u00a0$9.2\u00a0billion\u00a0annually. It\u2019s a\u00a0break with decades of\u00a0DOE\u00a0analysis, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations, which has reported significant energy and financial savings under each iteration of the\u00a0code.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Energy Department is completely contradicting its own findings,\u201d said Donna Stanley, vice president of communications at the nonprofit\u00a0International Code Council, which develops the model code.\u00a0\u200b\u201cThe\u00a0DOE\u2019s new methodology is a\u00a0deep mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOE\u00a0did not respond by Monday to Canary Media\u2019s question of why it chose to exclude energy bill savings in its analysis.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0IECC, which is updated every three years, has cut energy use in new homes in half since it was first enacted in the late\u00a01970s. While the code is fuel-neutral, meaning that\u00a0builders can install fossil-fueled equipment, it still has a\u00a0positive impact for the climate because it reduces energy demand that would be met at least in part by burning fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

Most states adopt the\u00a0IECC\u00a0or an amended version rather than create their own rules from scratch. Some states, like Alabama, don\u2019t impose statewide standards. In those cases, local governments may choose to use the\u00a0IECC\u00a0themselves; as the city of Montgomery does, for example.<\/p>\n

Depending on the code-adoption cycle, there can be a\u00a0lag of several years before a\u00a0state or local jurisdiction takes up the latest iteration of the\u00a0IECC. To date,\u00a010\u00a0states have adopted the\u00a02024\u00a0code, per the International Code Council.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOE\u2019s analysis could have a\u00a0chilling effect on other states still in the process of locking in the\u00a02024\u00a0code, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Ohio. Lawmakers who have sought to restrict more-efficient building codes\u2014such as those in the Missouri House of Representatives\u2014could use the analysis as fodder for their arguments, according to Ben Rabe, associate director of codes and policy at New Buildings Institute.<\/p>

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The analysis comes as the Trump administration has sought to squelch energy-efficiency efforts across the country. In\u00a02025, it\u00a0sued\u00a0two California cities over their superefficient all-electric codes, and this year it has\u00a0barred\u00a0households from using federal home-electrification rebates to swap fossil-fueled appliances for heat-pump options. In May, the Trump\u00a0DOE\u00a0also\u00a0rescinded\u00a0a\u00a0Biden-era requirement that new homes meet the\u00a02021\u00a0IECC\u00a0standard to qualify for federal mortgage loans.<\/p>\n

The moves to crush efficiency measures could exacerbate the country\u2019s energy-affordability problems, making people spend more at a\u00a0time when electricity and fuel costs\u00a0have risen fast.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOE\u00a0has done a\u00a0cost-benefit analysis of every version of the\u00a0IECC, but this latest one is the first time the agency has tallied only the upfront costs from home construction and ignored the long-term bill savings, said Ted Tiffany, senior technical lead at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, a\u00a0nonprofit advocacy group.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s like comparing cars based solely on their sticker prices while ignoring fuel costs and maintenance expenses, he added.\u00a0\u200b\u201cA cheaper car may cost less on Day\u00a01, but a\u00a0more efficient vehicle can save money and provide better performance, safety, and last longer over its lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0report for the\u00a0DOE\u00a0last year, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory calculated the utility bill savings for people who move into homes built to the new standard. The\u00a02024\u00a0model code generates an average life-cycle cost savings of\u00a0\u00a0over the\u00a02021\u00a0code, it estimated, though in specific regions that could rise to almost $9,500. The average payback time for a\u00a0buyer paying for a\u00a0home in cash, it found, is\u00a02.5\u00a0years. Those who get a\u00a0mortgage would typically see net savings on their combined home and utility payments in just one\u00a0year.<\/p>\n

The adoption of the\u00a0IECC\u2019s latest residential and commercial energy codes would save US homes and businesses\u00a0$182\u00a0billion\u00a0between\u00a02010\u00a0and\u00a02040, according to a\u00a0DOE\u00a0webpage that was removed shortly before the announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the definition of cost-effectiveness,\u201d Tiffany said.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOE\u2019s new analysis also rests on a\u00a0questionable time-period comparison: It benchmarked the\u00a02024\u00a0IECC\u00a0against the\u00a02006\u00a0version.\u00a0Forty-nine states\u00a0have already adopted more advanced energy codes for new residential units, according to Tiffany; they\u2019re not building to\u00a02006\u00a0standards. The\u00a0DOE\u2019s comparison really works only\u00a0\u200b\u201cfor perhaps Arkansas,\u201d he said, which lags the rest of the US in building energy codes.<\/p>\n

The agency has estimated the added construction costs for compliance with the\u00a02024\u00a0IECC\u00a0over the\u00a02006\u00a0IECC\u00a0at $14,000\u00a0per\u00a0home.\u00a0<\/p>

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\u201cBut we\u2019ll save way more than that over the life of these buildings,\u201d Rabe\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Energy Department is completely contradicting its own findings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nAdministration\u2019s Fuzzy Math Will Undermine Energy Efficiency Savings - Moving and Mortgage Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=983\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Administration\u2019s Fuzzy Math Will Undermine Energy Efficiency Savings - Moving and Mortgage Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe Energy Department is completely contradicting its own findings.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/?p=983\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving and Mortgage Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T14:10:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movingandmortgagehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/090484379bacd501c1ce9d003274872b-1024x575.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"575\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6b7c79bcfd888d98f34c5413df7e81a2\"},\"headline\":\"Administration\u2019s Fuzzy Math Will Undermine Energy Efficiency Savings\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T14:10:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983\"},\"wordCount\":882,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1c97b99d2f5e8c307bdbbbd007f4ab96.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingandmortgagehub.com\\\/?p=983\",\"name\":\"Administration\u2019s Fuzzy Math Will Undermine Energy Efficiency Savings - 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