The Texas Model for Energy Code Compliance

What the Results Show

Participation and performance rose together

The usual concern about flexible compliance is that it weakens outcomes. Texas offers the clearest evidence available that it does not.

*2026 reflects partial-year data only — ratings issued through June 24, 2026 — so it is not directly comparable to prior full-year totals.

Annual participation nearly doubled while the median HERS Index improved by eight points. That is a faster and larger improvement than prescriptive code change alone typically delivers. The steepest gains came as the statutory targets tightened, which suggests the published schedule is doing its job.

What It Means for Texas Homeowners

Compared with homes built to the prescriptive energy code, homes rated under this pathway in a single year are estimated to save homeowners more than $58 million in annual energy costs, cutting electricity use by more than 325 million kilowatt-hours and natural gas use by 4.4 million therms. The emissions reduction is equivalent to taking more than 29,000 cars off the road.

The Longer View

More than 843,000 Texas homes have received a HERS Rating, including over 309,000 ENERGY STAR certified homes and more than 12,000 DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes. Together they are estimated to deliver more than $620 million in annual energy savings.

Not Only the Big Markets

Texas HERS Ratings by Major Market (Cumulative, 2013–2025)

Ratings are also common across dozens of smaller communities, including El Paso, Corpus Christi, Killeen, Temple, Waco, McAllen, Bryan, Brownsville, Odessa, Midland, Tyler and Fredericksburg. Builders of every size use the pathway.

How the Pathway Is Built

Four elements, working together

The Texas pathway is not simply a relaxation of the energy code. Four elements work in combination, and the white paper argues that removing any one of them weakens the whole.

• A whole-home performance target, not a prescriptive checklist. Compliance is demonstrated with a verified HERS Index at or below a threshold. Builders choose how to reach it.
• A mandatory floor. Homes must still meet the mandatory requirements of Section R406.2 of the 2018 IECC, and the thermal envelope must equal or exceed the efficiency and solar heat gain levels in IECC Table R402.1.2 or R402.1.4. Flexibility is bounded.
• Targets that tighten on a published schedule. Fixed in statute and known in advance, rather than decided later.
• Independent verification. Scores are not self-reported. A certified third-party HERS Rater confirms them under RESNET protocols.

The pathway applies statewide and can be used in place of the state energy code or any stretch code a municipality has adopted. It is written into Texas Health and Safety Code section 388.003 and remains in effect through September 1, 2031.

The Targets

Know your number, years in advance

Table 1. Statutory HERS Index compliance targets by climate zone and effective date. Source: Tex. Health & Safety Code § 388.003(j), as amended by H.B. 3215, 87th Leg., R.S. (2021).

Energy codes typically change every three years, and builders find out what is required only after adoption. Here the targets tighten on a fixed, published schedule. Builders can design, specify and price against a known destination rather than reacting to each code cycle.

For Texas Builders

Does this apply to my project?

Any builder constructing new residential homes in Texas can use the pathway. It applies statewide and does not depend on your local jurisdiction opting in.

You can use it if:

• You are building a new home anywhere in Texas
• The home meets the mandatory requirements described above
• The home achieves the HERS Index target for its climate zone
• A certified third-party HERS Rater verifies the score

You do not need:

• Your municipality to have adopted a particular code edition
• A separate approval process
• To abandon your current construction practices. The pathway sets a target, not a method.

Why builders use it

Four Steps

How to Get Started

1. 1
   Find a Certified HERS Rating CompanyFind a certified HERS Rating Company and confirm they hold ICC certification.
2. 2
   Start with a Plan ReviewBring them in at the plan stage. A projected rating from your plans, before ground is broken, tells you where the home will land while the design can still change on paper. Problems found at plan review cost a fraction of the same problems found after framing.
3. 3
   Verify During ConstructionVerification during construction, while assemblies are still accessible.
4. 4
   Finalize Your Rating and RegistrationFinal rating and registration. The confirmed score is recorded in the RESNET national registry and becomes your compliance documentation.

For Other States

How to Get Started

Texas is not an outlier. Southern Nevada, Utah and Massachusetts all recognize HERS-based compliance, and other states are considering it. In Massachusetts, the HERS pathway is not merely an alternative: under the current Stretch Code a conventional prescriptive route is not generally available for ordinary new dwelling units.

Our two Texas resources document how the pathway was structured, how builders responded, and what happened to energy performance statewide. If you are weighing a similar approach in your jurisdiction, they are the place to start.

Resources