The Model Energy Code – How it Pertains to Your Addition

Additions and renovations are required to meet the same strict codes as a new home would. Being able to design creatively while still working within these requirements requires a knowledgeable team of architects and designers.
What is the Model Energy Code?
The Model Energy Code (MEC) contains energy efficiency criteria for new residential and commercial buildings, and additions to existing buildings. It includes the structures ceilings, walls, floors and foundations, as well as the mechanical, lighting and power systems.
Its major focus is on home insulation, which is climate-specific based on where you live. It also focuses on restricting air leakage, installing temperature controls, and insulating ducts and pipes, along with other energy-saving priorities.
What’s Important for Me to Know as a Homeowner?
MEC enforcement for the state of Virginia is mandatory, and all towns, cities, and counties must comply with the energy code. One of the advantages to this is that your addition will be more energy-efficient, leading to savings on utility bills and increased comforts.
One of the disadvantages of the MEC is that homeowners aren’t easily able to research the various requirements for being MEC compliant. It’s important to check with your design build firm or contractor to ensure that they have the knowledge and tools to work within these constraints.
The Sun Advantage
An experience we’ve run into time and time again is that being MEC compliant can feel restrictive – that is if you don’t know how to work innovatively within the code. Our designers work with professionals in the mechanical field to ensure that our custom design is not only beautiful but balances the required energy envelope rather than simply assuming the minimum requirements. You’ll get the look and feel you desire while maximizing your long-term return on investment.
The Bottom Line
The MEC was designed to address the energy crisis of the 1970s, and affects both new home designs and existing home additions. If you’re considering an addition, make sure to inquire about these standards and how your designer is going to work within them to give you the remodel you deserve.
Schedule your free in-home consultation today
-
VIRTUAL Remodeled Home Tour
-
It’s in the Process: Design has Taken Shape, Then a Pandemic Hits
Choosing to remodel your home, especially when it involves an addition, is always life changing. The ever-changing and uncertain climate of the past year has made this decision even more difficult for most homeowners. For Laurel and Don, the need for a better functioning and more comfortable environment within their home was essential. The couple…
-
Whole Home Remodel: Built on Trust
Steve and Renee came to Sun Design seeking solutions to problems that they could not yet identify. They knew that they loved their home and location, and that it had served them well during the years their son and daughter were young children. However, as their kids grew up, they began to feel that…
-
Coronavirus Precautions
Check out our Coronavirus Precaution videos! Job Site Precaution VIDEO – We have been very busy preparing the job sites to take proper precautions as it relates to COVID-19 and thought we would share what the protocols are/will be on all job sites during this time. For as exciting as a job site precautions video…
-
Award Winning Design
-
”Sun Design appears to have many levels of checks and balances so that our project from the design process through the construction process has many competent people, working as a team, who make sure the "i's are dotted and the t's are crossed." Everyone I've.”
Bonnie and Gerald
Read More