Inflation Reduction Act: Section 50131. Request for Information (RFI): Technical Assistance for Latest and Zero Building Energy Code Adoption

This Request for Information (RFI) is soliciting feedback from state and local governments, building officials, contractors, designers, builders, other industry representatives, community organizations, academia, research laboratories, and other stakeholders on issues related to key provisions in Section 50131 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The DOE Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) is interested in information on supporting the development, adoption, and implementation of the latest model building energy codes and zero building energy codes for residential and commercial, new and existing buildings (or equivalent codes, standards, or policies) throughout the U.S. in accordance with Section 50131 of the IRA. The IRA provides direction on certain high-level eligibility criteria and overall goals but does not detail how to develop and effectively implement an IRA codes program that will empower States and local jurisdictions to update their building energy codes and standards for new and existing buildings. Therefore, to further support program development, this RFI specifically seeks input on 1) selection criteria; 2) other funding sources, 3) compliance plans; and 4) existing-building opportunities. The information collected from this RFI will be used by DOE for planning purposes to develop a potential Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The information collected will not be published. This is solely a Request for Information and not a FOA. SCEP is not accepting applications at this time.

A Notice of Intent (NOI) is being issued together with this RFI. Additional information regarding a potential FOA supporting Technical Assistance for the Adoption of the Latest and Zero Building Energy Codes or Standards is available in that NOI (DE-FOA-0003055). The full content of the NOI announcement can be found on the Clean Energy Infrastructure Exchange website at https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov.

The purpose of this RFI is to gather feedback from stakeholders prior to DOE potentially issuing a FOA. This RFI is not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. All responses to this RFI must be provided as Microsoft Word attachments and submitted electronically to iracodes@hq.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm ET on April 26, 2023. A public workshop to gather additional input on this potential FOA will be held on April 18, 2023 at 2:00pm ET. To register for the public workshop, please visit: https://pnnl.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_yKIg2RtNRh6OQC53b1ba0A. The full content of the announcement can be found on the Clean Energy Infrastructure Exchange website at https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov.