How Building Codes Address Energy Efficiency
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Modern building codes increasingly include minimum energy efficiency requirements for new construction, covering elements such as insulation levels, window performance and, in some jurisdictions, a mandatory minimum for on site renewable generation, ensuring new buildings meet a baseline standard rather than being built to the lowest possible upfront cost alone.
These requirements matter because a building's energy performance is largely locked in at the point of construction, since retrofitting insulation, sealing or better windows into an already completed building is generally far more expensive and disruptive than simply building it correctly from the outset while construction is already underway.
Because building codes are periodically updated and tightened over time, the energy performance expected of new buildings generally improves gradually with each revision, meaning a home built to a recent code will typically be considerably more efficient than an older home originally built decades earlier under much less demanding standards of the time.