The International Energy Conservation Code 2009 Click here to
read more articles about Ventilation This article originally
appeared in the March/April 2010 issue of Home Energy Magazine.
March 01, 2010 Three groundbreaking changes to the residential
requirements of the 2009 IECC include introducing specific
performance criteria for envelope leakage, duct leakage, and
lighting requirements into the residential code. National energy
codes got their start in 1975, when, in response to the oil
embargo three years previous to that, Congress passed the Energy
Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). EPCA was amended most
significantly in 1992 with the passage of the better-known
Energy Policy Act (EPACT), which empowered the Department of
Energy (DOE) to establish and regularly update a national
requirement for energy-efficient residential and commercial
buildings. The basis for the residential standard was the Model
Energy Code (MEC), which at that time was jointly overseen by
the three regional code development associ