ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a historical perspective on federal legislation executive orders, key codes, standards, and regulations, all of which have impacted energy policy and are still playing a major role in shaping energy usage. The context of past standards and legislation must be understood in order to properly implement the proper systems and to be able to impact future codes. The main difference between standards, codes and regulations is an increasing level of enforceability of the various design parameters. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 is far-reaching, and its implementation is impacting electric power deregulation, building codes, and new energy efficient products. Energy codes specify how buildings must be constructed or perform and are written in a mandatory, enforceable language. Energy standards describe how buildings should be constructed to save energy cost effectively. State and local governments frequently use energy standards as the technical basis for developing their energy codes.
