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State Statutes and Local Ordinances

State of Massachusetts

Jl.1.3 Compliance: Compliance with Appendix J shall be determined by one of the following alternatives:

1.  780 CMR j5.0, Residential Building Design by Prescriptive Practice (or Default Approach) in which the U and R values are given for the thermal envelope.  Additional requirements are stated in 780 CMRJ4.0, or;

2. 780 CMR J6.0. Residential Building Design by Component Performance (or Manual Trade-off Approach) which allows trade-offs between building envelope components and heating and cooling equipment efficiencies to minimize cost.  Additional requirements are stated in 780 CMR4.0, or;

3. 780 CMR J7.0.  Residential Building Design by MAScheck Software which achieves similar results as the Manual Trade-off Approach.  Additional requirements are stated in 780 CMR J4.0, or;

4. 780 CMRJ7.0, the Systems Approach or Total Energy Analysis for the entire building and its energy using sub-systems, or;

5. 780 CMRJ9.0 Buildings Utilizing Renewable Energy Resources, or;

6.  780 CMR J11.0, a Home Energy Rating issued for the home with a score of 83.0 or more points.

780 CMR J11.0 Home Energy Ratings

J11.1 General: a proposed building, for which the builder or the buyer obtains a Home Energy Rating by an accredited Home Energy Rating System (HERS®), will be considered to comply with the intent of Appendix J if the rating score on the building is 83.0 or more points.

J11.1.1 Accreditation: Accreditation of the rating organization or agency with the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) or the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources is required for acceptance of the energy rating as a compliance tool for Appendix J.

J11.1.2 Rating Score: The minimum compliance score of 83.0 points will be based on the national HERS Council’s guidelines for Home Energy Ratings, and the rating score shall be determined with an acceptable software analysis program as required by RESNET accreditation procedures, on a scale of 0 - 100 points.

J11.2 Documentation: A compliance report which includes a proposed Energy Rating score of 83.0 or more points, a description of the building’s energy features, and a statement that the rating score is “based on plans” will be required for issuing a building permit.  A copy of the final rating certificate indicating the score of 83.0 or more points for the finished building will be submitted to the building official before the Certificate of Occupancy is issued.