Kirsten Robinson Novakoski
Jun 4, 2025
Explore the CA energy code compliance pathways available for your project type.
The California Energy Code, also known as Title-24 Part 6, sets energy efficiency standards with the intention to reduce energy use, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and support clean energy goals. Updated every three years, the code requires compliance for various building systems in new construction or addition/alteration projects. Read on to discover the compliance pathways for single-family residential, multi-family residential, and commercial projects.
Compliance Pathways
There are two pathways to achieving code compliance: prescriptive or performance.
Prescriptive compliance is a less flexible, form-based pathway in which a project design meets a set of predetermined requirements based on the project location (climate zone) and building type.
Performance based compliance utilizes an energy model to evaluate the proposed design against a set “Standard” design, which is similar but not always exactly matching what would be the prescriptive design.
Under either pathway, all mandatory measures set forth by the energy code must be met for all building systems.
Building Systems
Each building system, shown below, is required to comply via one of the pathways. For nonresidential and hotel/motel projects, a flexible compliance strategy can be adopted where some systems comply prescriptively and the remaining comply via the energy performance model. This approach can allow for trade-offs when one system can’t comply prescriptively but will perform better than the Standard design when in conjunction with a more efficient system. For residential building types, if a performance-based model is pursued, all systems are included in the energy model. This can make it easy for multifamily projects to pursue utility allowance calculations and other certifications (GreenPoint Rated or LEED certification).
Performance-Based Energy Modeling
Updated for the 2022 and 2025 code cycles, the performance-based energy model must comply with three metrics. A building only complies if all three compliance scores are met, or each Proposed Design score is lower or equal to the Standard Design score.
In the 2022 code cycle, the metrics vary between nonresidential and single-family residential project compliance. The metrics have been updated to be equivalent for all building types in the 2025 code cycle.
2022 Code Cycle Definitions
Energy Design Rating (EDR): An alternative way to express the energy performance of a home using a scoring system where 100 represents an equivalent performance with a reference design building (2006 IECC) and 0 represents a building that has zero net energy consumption. The lower the score, the better.
Time Dependent Valuation (TDV): TDV is a weighted metric based on the energy type and hour of consumption, often penalizing energy consumed during peak times. It accounts for energy used at the building site and consumed in the production and delivery of the energy to a site.
Source Total Metric (Source or EDRs): Calculated based on the energy type and hour of consumption, source energy is the long run marginal source energy of fossil fuels that are combusted as a results of building energy consumed either directly at the site or to meet the electrical demand of the project’s resource procurement.
2025 Code Cycle Definitions
Long-term System Cost (LSC): CEC-projected present value of costs to California’s energy systems over a period of 30 years. Like the 2022 TDV metric, the rate of conversion to LSC is based on the energy type and hour of consumption, with the addition of climate zone and building programming type considerations.
Source Energy (Source): Calculated based on the energy type and hour of consumption, source energy is the long run marginal source energy of fossil fuels that are combusted as a results of building energy consumed either directly at the site or to meet the electrical demand of the project’s resource procurement.