Building Energy Code (Washington)

Last modified on February 12, 2015.

Rules Regulations Policies Program

Place	Washington
Name	Building Energy Code
Incentive Type	Building Energy Code
Applicable Sector	Commercial, Residential
Eligible Technologies	Comprehensive Measures/Whole Building
Active Incentive	Yes
Implementing Sector	State/Territory
Energy Category	Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs
Code Change Cycle	Three-year code review/change cycle. Most recent update effective: January 1, 2011.
Commercial Code	2009 WSEC, state-developed and implemented code more stringent than the 2009 IECC. Mandatory statewide.
Residential Code	2009 WSEC, state-developed and implemented code more stringent than the 2009 IECC. Mandatory statewide.
Website	http://bcap-ocean.org/state-country/washington
Date added to DSIRE	2006-07-27
Last DSIRE Review	2012-10-08
References	DSIRE

Summary

Much of the information presented in this summary is drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program and the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). For more detailed information about building energy codes, visit the DOE and BCAP websites.

The State Building Code Council revised the Washington State Energy Code in 2010.  The 2009 Washington State Energy Code (WSEC) was adopted in October of 2010 and made effective January 1, 2011. The WESC is a state-developed code which does not reference any model codes.

Changes to the state energy code are submitted to the State Building Code Council (SBCC) on standardized forms. Code changes must be received by March 1 of each year. The SBCC sends the change to a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for review. The TAG members have varying expertise in the construction industry related to the proposed change. After completing the review, the TAG submits its recommendations back to the SBCC. The SBCC then determines which proposals will be sent forward into rulemaking for public hearing. The final decision is made by the Council prior to December 1 each year, but approved changes only go into effect when the new editions of model codes are adopted every three years. Legislative oversight is provided through two senators and two representatives serving as ex-officio non-voting council members and a legislative session must pass before the changes go into effect.

Changes are instituted on a three-year cycle corresponding with the International Code Council (ICC) International Building Code cycle. Once final approval is granted by the SBCC, the rule is filed with the Washington State Code Reviser and then published in the Washington State Register.

Incentive Contact

Contact Name	Krista Braaksma
Department	Washington State Department of Commerce
Division	State Building Code Council
Address	128 10th Ave. SW
Address 2	PO Box 4525
Place	Olympia, Washington
Zip/Postal Code	98504-2525
Phone	(360) 725-2964
Email	kristab@commerce.wa.gov
Website	http://www.energy.wsu.edu

• Incentive and policy data are reviewed and approved by the N.C. Solar Center's DSIRE project staff.