Residential
Energy Code
of Alabama

If you were offered a home that was of higher quality, more comfortable, had lower monthly utility bills, while not requiring additional income to finance and no additional down payment, would you buy it?

This is exactly what an energy efficient home offers. Energy efficiency is a critical issue in terms of affordable housing. The cost of utilities for a home is the highest cost of homeownership in Alabama outside of the mortgage loan. It is now possible to reduce a home's energy use by a third (1/3), without sacrificing amenities, using readily available technologies and building practices.

The State of Alabama has adopted the Residential Energy Code of Alabama (RECA) to foster energy efficient housing for all of Alabama's home buyers. The code establishes construction standards for builders and local governments to adopt as part of their building code.

Although the state code is voluntary, it presents in understandable terms what is necessary to build an entry-level, energy efficient home.

It just makes dollars and cents for builders to meet or exceed the state's energy code. The mortgage industry offers mortgage products that allow a homebuyer to qualify for an energy efficient home that exceeds the state's code without additional income qualification or down payment. These are called energy efficient mortgages.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs supports a market-driven approach as the best strategy to improve home building practices in the state. The Department has teamed up with Fannie Mae and the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to educate consumers, builders, and lenders in the state on the benefits of energy efficient homes and to take advantage of the opportunities that energy efficient mortgages offer.

This web site highlights the Residential Energy Code of Alabama and the voluntary, market-driven efforts that create a market incentive for building and buying homes that meet or exceed RECA.

This web site was developed by RESNET through a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. This publication was prepared with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grant No. DE-FG44-00R410771. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of DOE.