Every three years, the International Code Council (ICC), a Washington, D.C.-based membership association that develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, puts the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) through a consensus-based revision process. Introduced in 1998, the IECC covers energy-efficiency issues, including cost savings, reduced energy usage, conservation of natural resources, and the impact of energy usage on the environment. In the proposed latest edition — 2012 IECC — scheduled to be released at the end of this month, ICC has included requirements that are expected to improve commercial and residential building energy efficiency by 30% more than those built under the 2006 edition and 17% more than those constructed under the current edition published in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Energy...