Increasing Energy Efficiency in New Buildings in the Southwest: Energy Codes and Best Practices from SWEEP

Energy code adoption and enforcement in much of the Southwest lags behind many other states. However, in virtually all jurisdictions, there is movement to adopt better codes or, where adopted, increase efforts to enforce codes and educate the building community about the value of designing and building energy-efficient structures. There remains large potential for cost-effective savings from better energy codes and promotion of “beyond code” new buildings throughout the Southwest region.