Chapter 11

Codes,

Standards

And Legislation

This chapter presents a historical perspective on key codes, stan-
dards, and regulations, all of which have impacted energy policy and
are still playing a major role in shaping energy usage. The context of
past standards and legislation must be understood in order to properly
implement the proper systems and to be able to impact future codes.
The Energy Policy Act, for example, has created an environment for
retail competition. Electric utilities will drastically change the way they
operate in order to provide power and lowest cost. This in turn will
drastically reduce utility-sponsored incentive and rebate programs,
which have influenced energy conservation adoption. The chapter at-
tempts to cover a majority of the material that currently impacts the
energy related industries, with respect to their initial writing.
The main difference between standards, codes and regulations is
an increasing level of enforceability of the various design parameters.
A group of interested parties (vendors, trade organizations, engineers,
designers, citizens, etc.) may develop a standard in order to assure
minimum levels of performance. The standard acts as a suggestion to
those parties involved, but is not enforceable until it is codified by a
governing body (local or state agency) that makes the standard a code.
Not meeting this code may prevent continuance of a building permit
or the ultimate stoppage of work. Once the federal government makes
the code part of the federal code, it becomes a regulation. Often this
progression involves equipment development and commercialization
prior to codification in order to assure that the standards are attain-
able.

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