In West Virginia, the Division of Energy advances energy efficiency. Building energy codes represent a baseline standard for new construction and upgrades of residential and commercial buildings.
Energy codes allow for a prescriptive path, which is baseline criteria for the windows, doors and insulation, as well as for a performance path, which allows a building designer to improve the energy efficiency of one component of a building to allow for a special circumstance. An example might be adding insulation to a building envelope to allow for bigger windows. The performance path must be documented using computer software.
Energy efficiency improvements are most cost-effective during a building’s construction. You can also realize significant energy savings if you make changes to your existing buildings.