Energy: appliance standards: public domain computer program: home energy rating.

(1) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, standards for minimum levels of operating efficiency, and authorizes the commission to prescribe other cost-effective measures, to promote the use of energy-efficient and water-efficient appliances whose use requires a significant amount of energy or water on a statewide basis. This bill would instead authorize the commission to prescribe or adopt other cost-effective measures. The bill would authorize the commission to consider or recognize voluntary agreements in lieu of regulation described above and to take voluntary agreements into account in its planning. The bill would require the commission to consider adopting a process for the repeal, or suspension of enforcement, of a standard for minimum levels of operating efficiency for an appliance that the commission finds to be duplicative or inconsistent with federal or state law. The bill would require any labeling requirement prescribed by the commission to allow a manufacturer to use electronic labeling as appropriate. The bill would require the commission to consider the most current data provided to the commission regarding a proposed standard for an appliance before the publication of the notice of the proposed action to consider adoption or amendment of a standard for an appliance. The bill would require the commission to explain in the final statement of reasons how it considered those data. (2) Existing law requires the commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase the efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Existing law also requires the commission to prescribe, by regulation, energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. In order to implement these requirements, existing law requires the commission to develop a public domain computer program that enables contractors, builders, architects, engineers, and government officials to estimate energy consumed by residential and nonresidential buildings and requires the commission to establish a formal process for certification of compliance options for new products, materials, and calculation methods, as prescribed. This bill would require the commission to approve and make publicly available, not less than 6 months prior to the effective date of adopted or updated efficiency standards, the public domain computer program. The bill would require the commission, before approving the public domain computer program, to perform preliminary tests of the public domain computer program using common examples of residential and nonresidential buildings and building systems to ensure the usability of the program by users of the program. The bill would require the commission to make the results of those preliminary tests publicly available. (3) Existing law requires the commission to establish criteria for adopting a statewide home energy rating program for residential dwellings. For existing single-family residential dwellings and multifamily residential dwellings with up to 4 units, the bill would require the commission, in administering the statewide home energy rating program, to ensure that energy assessment tools used by the commission are routinely adjusted to improve modeling accuracy and to ensure that consumers receive a notice with the output of the energy assessment tools explaining the assumptions used in the energy assessment tools and how they may differ from actual usage patterns.