Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing: Preliminary Determination and Solicitation of Comment

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The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) establishes procedures for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to adopt periodic revisions to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1: Energy Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (ASHRAE 90.1), subject to a determination by HUD and USDA that the revised codes do not negatively affect the availability or affordability of new construction of single and multifamily housing covered by EISA, and a determination by the Secretary of Energy that the revised codes "would improve energy efficiency." This Notice announces the preliminary determination of HUD and USDA, as required under section 481(d)(1) of EISA, that the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2019 will not negatively affect the affordability and availability of housing covered by EISA. In making this preliminary determination, the first step to ultimately requiring compliance with these standards in HUD and USDA housing covered by EISA, this Notice relies on several studies that show that these codes are cost effective in that the incremental co