Revised Residential Energy Standard Is Open for Comment
Residential sector consumes approximately one-fifth of all primary energy
ATLANTA — Recognizing the amount of energy used by the residential building sector, ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) are revising their residential energy standard with a goal of making it 50 percent more efficient than the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code, which serves as the industry benchmark.
The residential sector consumes approximately one-fifth (21 percent) of all the primary energy used by the United States and more than half (54 percent) of all energy used by buildings, noted ASHRAE. Similar trends are also observed in other parts of the world. For example, in Europe, residential buildings accounted for 75 percent of the total building stock and were responsible for 26.2 percent of the total European Union final energy consumption in 2012.