Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) The purpose of
this rule is to establish a consistent and predictable process for adopting the
energy provisions of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code (ORSC) to meet the
energy efficiency goals of the state with technically and economically feasible
code amendments.
(2) Proposed code
amendments to the ORSC that advance energy efficiency must include the
following information based on a uniform set of facts and assumptions:
(a) Modeled estimated energy savings based on
the US Department of Energy's Methodology for Evaluating Cost-Effectiveness of
Residential Energy Code Changes (US DOE Methodology) established for its
Building Energy Codes Program (BCAP) and for a 1,200 square foot single family
home on a 6,000 square foot lot, including;
(A) The building components, their associated
input values, and their assumptions used for developing the average baseline
code results, the proposed code amendment(s), and the data sources for those
building components, input values and assumptions;
(B) The data sources for the input values,
beginning with the US DOE Methodology or other national standard(s), followed
by the baseline code, then regional data, as appropriate, where national
methodologies or standards do not apply; and
(C) Weighting factors, provided by the
division, based on foundation type, fuel type, and climate zone.
(b) Increased construction costs
above those of the base code that would result from the proposed amendments
relative to the US DOE Methodology home and for a 1,200 square foot single
family home on 6,000 a square foot lot, detailed and specific enough to allow
for the reproduction of the analysis, based on the following factors:
(A) A standard cost for different fuel types
based on data provided by the division, or from the US Energy Information
Agency (EIA) if not available from the division. These costs will be used in
any analysis of code change proposals and the costs by fuel type will be used
for the duration of the code adoption cycle;
(B) Cost of labor;
(C) Quantity of labor;
(D) Cost of materials;
(E) Quantity of materials;
(F) Overhead costs;
(G) Profit; and
(H) Factors or conditions that would make an
alteration, repair, change of use, or change of occupancy, or other code
upgrade triggering event in an existing building more expensive to comply with,
or would otherwise make the included cost analysis unreliable. Where the code
upgrade triggering event would have a fiscal impact, an estimate of that
increased fiscal impact must be based on the same assumptions as the initial
code proposal.
(3) To facilitate the needed uniform
modeling, analysis, and comparison, prior to opening the period for collecting
proposed code amendments, the division will, as is feasible, and in
consultation with the Residential and Manufactured Structures Board, make
available the following information:
(a) The
base code that the energy provisions of the ORSC will be based on;
(b) Any division proposed code amendments;
and
(c) Modeling and cost data
consistent with the methodology to be used for the public proposals.
(4) In addition to the
requirements of this rule, OAR
918-008-0030, and
918-008-0060, proposed energy
code amendments must be submitted on the division approved form.
