Rulemaking to adopt the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code without any state-level amendments required.

A bill for an act

relating to the State Building Code; requiring rulemaking to adopt the 2024

International Energy Conservation Code without any state-level amendments;

amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 326B.106, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 326B.106, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Adoption of code.

(a) Subject to paragraphs (c) and (d) and sections

326B.101
to
326B.194
, the commissioner shall by rule and in consultation with the

Construction Codes Advisory Council establish a code of standards for the construction,

reconstruction, alteration, and repair of buildings, governing matters of structural materials,

design and construction, fire protection, health, sanitation, and safety, including design and

construction standards regarding heat loss control, illumination, and climate control. The

code must also include duties and responsibilities for code administration, including

procedures for administrative action, penalties, and suspension and revocation of certification.

The code must conform insofar as practicable to model building codes generally accepted

and in use throughout the United States, including a code for building conservation. In the

preparation of the code, consideration must be given to the existing statewide specialty

codes presently in use in the state. Model codes with necessary modifications and statewide

specialty codes may be adopted by reference. The code must be based on the application

of scientific principles, approved tests, and professional judgment. To the extent possible,

the code must be adopted in terms of desired results instead of the means of achieving those

results, avoiding wherever possible the incorporation of specifications of particular methods

or materials. To that end the code must encourage the use of new methods and new materials.

Except as otherwise provided in sections
326B.101
to
326B.194
, the commissioner shall

administer and enforce the provisions of those sections.

(b) The commissioner shall develop rules addressing the plan review fee assessed to

similar buildings without significant modifications including provisions for use of building

systems as specified in the industrial/modular program specified in section
326B.194
.

Additional plan review fees associated with similar plans must be based on costs

commensurate with the direct and indirect costs of the service.

(c) Beginning with the 2018 edition of the model building codes and every six years

thereafter, the commissioner shall review the new model building codes and adopt the model

codes as amended for use in Minnesota, within two years of the published edition date. The

commissioner may adopt amendments to the building codes prior to the adoption of the

new building codes to advance construction methods, technology, or materials, or, where

necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, or to improve the efficiency

or the use of a building.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (c), the commissioner shall act on each new model

residential energy code and the new model commercial energy code in accordance with

federal law for which the United States Department of Energy has issued an affirmative

determination in compliance with United States Code, title 42, section 6833. The

commissioner may adopt amendments prior to adoption of the new energy codes, as amended

for use in Minnesota, to advance construction methods, technology, or materials, or, where

necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, or to improve the efficiency

or use of a building.

(e) Beginning in 2024, the commissioner shall act on the new model commercial energy

code by adopting each new published edition of ASHRAE 90.1 or a more efficient standard.

The commercial energy code in effect in 2036 and thereafter must achieve an 80 percent

reduction in annual net energy consumption or greater, using the ASHRAE 90.1-2004 as a

baseline. The commissioner shall adopt commercial energy codes from 2024 to 2036 that

incrementally move toward achieving the 80 percent reduction in annual net energy

consumption. By January 15 of the year following each new code adoption, the commissioner

shall make a report on progress under this section to the legislative committees with

jurisdiction over the energy code.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the ability of a public utility to

offer code support programs, or to claim energy savings resulting from such programs,

through its energy conservation and optimization plans approved by the commissioner of

commerce under section
216B.241
or an energy conservation and optimization plan filed

by a consumer-owned utility under section
216B.2403
.

(g)
deleted text begin
Beginning in 2026, the commissioner shall act on the new model residential energy

code by adopting each new published edition of the International Energy Conservation Code

or a more efficient standard. The residential energy code in effect in 2038 and thereafter

must achieve a 70 percent reduction in annual net energy consumption or greater, using the

2006 International Energy Conservation Code State Level Residential Codes Energy Use

Index for Minnesota, as published by the United States Department of Energy's Building

Energy Codes Program, as a baseline. The commissioner shall adopt residential energy

codes from 2026 to 2038 that incrementally move toward achieving the 70 percent reduction

in annual net energy consumption. By January 15 of the year following each new code

adoption, the commissioner shall submit a report on progress under this section to the

legislative committees with jurisdiction over the energy code
deleted text end
new text begin
The commissioner shall adopt

rules incorporating the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code as part of the State

Building Code without any state-level amendments
new text end
.