This week's invited speaker for the UT Energy Symposium is Richard Morgan, Sr. Energy Codes Manager with South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER) .
Richard Morgan is the Sr. Energy Codes Manager for the South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource, the Regional Energy Efficiency Organization for Texas and Oklahoma. Richard is responsible for increasing local energy code adoption and compliance in Texas and Oklahoma. Richard is the SPEER lead on the DOE Energy Codes Field Study for Texas. Prior to joining SPEER, Richard was the Green Building and Sustainability Manager for Austin Energy, the municipal electric utility for the City of Austin, TX. Richard has participated in many regional and national green building and energy code working groups and committees including acting as Chair of the Energy Working Group of the International Code Council Sustainable Building Technology Committee for the development of the first version of the International Green Construction Code.
Abstract: Texas adopted its first statewide energy code in 2001 in response a looming air quality compliance crisis. Large cities devoted various levels of effort to implementing the new codes, but for most of the state the introduction of statewide building codes had little impact for many years. Today, Texas is a leader in Energy Code adoption and compliance. The state has adopted the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code for all residential and commercial buildings and 90% of permits issued in the state are in jurisdictions enforcing that code. This presentation will explore the driving factors behind this evolution, provide a snapshot of the state of energy efficiency in new residential construction in Texas, and discuss some of the challenges that remain.
The UT Energy Symposium meets every Thursday during the long semesters. Come early to attend a networking session before the talk: refreshments will be served at 4:45 p.m. in the POB Connector Lobby outside the auditorium.