Energy Codes

New Energy Efficiency Requirements!

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to provisions in Title III of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA), has mandated that as of October 18, 2013, all states update their commercial building code to meet or exceed ASHRAE Standard 90.1 — 2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The new standard, among other things, mandates continuous insulation (CI) (in United States Climate Zones 3-8) on all new construction, and new construction in existing buildings, by this date. Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) offer continuous insulation by design as part of the system, allowing architects the design flexibility and aesthetics they require, while helping to meet the new standard.

According to the DOE, an estimated 40 percent of all energy in a building is for heating and cooling, while 39 percent of energy usage is due to account for air leakage through the walls. The addition of continuous insulation to the building's envelope will help drastically reduce air leakage increasing energy efficiency, as it reduces thermal bridging that affects other building's envelopes.

Additional information can be found in the Federal Register/Vol. 76, No. 202/Wednesday, October 19, 2011/Notices

This Earth Day Choose EIFS

Read EIFS: The Green Choice (pdf)

Additional Energy and Environmental Benefits of EIFS*

• The global warming impact and carbon footprint of EIFS is 3 times smaller than stucco and 5 times smaller than brick.
• To move 25,000 square feet of material, EIFS requires 16 times less tractor trucks than brick and 6 times less than stucco.
• Low/no volatile organic compounds.
• Recycled content and recyclable packaging.
• EIFS is 84% more energy efficient than the next best performing cladding, outpacing brick and stucco among others.
• EIFS provides a continuous layer of insulation that reduces air leakage that currently plagues many buildings.
• 2 inches of EIFS offers the equivalent energy efficiency performance as that of 8 inches of fiberglass insulation in a wall cavity.

*figures according to a proprietary study done by the National Institute of Standards and Technology