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What's new this month:
- Upcoming Webinars
- SPEER Industry + Policy Workshop: Photo/Video Recap Page Live!
- Noteworthy
- Texas Energy Code Adoption
- What We're Reading
- SPEER Resources & Webinar Archive
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Healthy Homes & Climate Readiness
October 22 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Community navigators play a powerful role in connecting homeowners with resources that improve comfort, safety, and affordability. This training equips navigators, contractors, and city/county staff with the tools to educate and support households through weatherization and climate readiness efforts.
Participants will gain an understanding of:
- The benefits of weatherization (lower bills, comfort, durability, indoor air quality).
- Thermal envelope basics: insulation, air sealing, and alignment.
- HVAC system essentials: Manual J/S/D, ductwork sealing, and equipment right-sizing.
- Mechanical ventilation & indoor air quality: ensuring healthy, safe airflow.
- Climate readiness strategies to reduce heat stress, moisture issues, and energy insecurity.
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Residential Building Envelope Inspection and Testing
October 23 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Hosted by the Green Building Resource Center (GBRC) & Presented by Randy Plumlee, Senior Manager of Building Performance for SPEER
Join us for a free virtual training designed for contractors, builders, and energy professionals focused on residential building envelope inspection and testing. Learn how to properly evaluate insulation, windows, doors, air barriers, and vapor retarders to ensure homes meet code requirements and achieve lasting comfort and efficiency.
What You’ll Learn:
- Key components of an effective building envelope
- Best practices for ensuring proper installation
- Techniques to identify and resolve common issues during inspection and testing
- How these strategies improve energy efficiency and indoor comfort
CEU Credit:
- Attendees earn 0.1 ICC Preferred Provider CEUs, approved by the City of Houston.
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Texas Residential and Commercial Building Code Updates
October 24 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
The 2024 IECC Residential brings notable updates to insulation/labeling, air-leakage limits and testing, duct location & leakage, lighting efficacy and controls, and renewable-/electric-ready provisions (solar-ready, EV infrastructure, branch circuits). We’ll also cover compliance pathways (Prescriptive, Performance, ERI), added efficiency packages, and what’s new for additions and alterations so you can hit compliance confidently on day one.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand new air-sealing thresholds, testing options, and sampling rules
- What’s changed for ducts in walls/floors, pipe insulation, and heat-pump controls
- Lighting efficacy & control requirements (interior/exterior) made simple
- Electric-readiness, solar-ready, and EV infrastructure—what must be on the plans
- How the performance/ERI paths and additional efficiency packages affect design choices
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Navigating IECC Energy Code Compliance for Demand-Controlled Hot Water Recirculation Systems
November 3 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Join us for a deep-dive technical session on IECC Energy Code requirements for Demand-Controlled Hot Water Recirculation (DCHWR) systems in residential construction. This webinar will unpack the engineering principles behind DCHWR technology, explore its measurable impact on energy performance and water-use efficiency, and clarify the IECC compliance pathways that govern its integration in modern residential design.
This session is designed for builders, mechanical engineers, plumbing designers, and code officials seeking to elevate their understanding of demand-controlled hot water systems and confidently implement compliant, high-performance solutions in residential builds.
| | | SPEER Industry + Policy Workshop: Photo/Video Recap Page Live! |
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The full video recap from this year's Industry + Policy Workshop is LIVE! We had two days of fantastic conversations with energy leaders from SPEER's territory and beyond at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center in Austin.
Make sure to check out our photo/video recap page as well.
Huge thanks to our 2025 sponsors and all attendees, speakers, and panelists who joined us.
See y'all next year!
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Save the Date: Texas Energy Summit 2025
The 22nd Annual Texas Energy Summit is taking place from November 4-6, 2025, at the Texas Capitol in Austin!
This dynamic event spotlights the intersection of air quality and energy systems, uniting individuals and groups from government, industry, academia, and non profit organizations to explore and address pressing energy and air quality issues. Sessions include discussions of energy policies & the future, air quality, Texas energy leadership, and more.
Don't miss this opportunity to network, learn, and contribute to the energy landscape. You can learn more about the Summit, explore the agenda, and secure your spot here.
| *Interested in SPEER bringing in-field training to you or learning about the 2021 IECC changes, mechanical ventilation training, and HVAC best practices? |
| | Texas Energy Code Adoption | | | |
The Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), under the Office of the Comptroller, oversees how building energy codes are adopted across the state. Every few years, SECO reviews the latest editions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the International Residential Code (IRC) to determine whether updates should be implemented in Texas.
The process includes a public comment period, technical review by the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL), and stakeholder meetings to assess energy savings, cost-effectiveness, and housing impacts. Once approved, new codes take effect no sooner than nine months after adoption, giving cities and builders time to prepare.
The new adoption cycle sets commercial updates every three years and residential updates every six years, with the revised process officially taking effect as of September 1, 2025.
Learn more here.
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7 Ways Airtightness Improves Your Home – By Allison Bailes
Whether you live in an existing home or are building new, improving airtightness can deliver multiple benefits beyond just lower energy bills. According to Energy Vanguard, a tighter envelope leads to better comfort (no more cold drafts), healthier indoor air by limiting pollutant infiltration, lower moisture levels and improved durability, quieter interiors, fewer unwanted odors — and yes, energy savings too. For current homeowners, targeted air-sealing upgrades can yield big returns. For new construction, demanding tighter building standards up front ensures all those advantages are baked in from day one.
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| | SPEER Resources & Webinar Archive |
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In Case You Missed It!
Did you miss our recent webinar, Open Cell Spray Foam: Comfort, Compliance, & Code Clarity?
Spray foam insulation continues to grow in popularity—but how does it really perform when it comes to energy code compliance, building durability, and occupant comfort?
Check out this engaging conversation with Cody Wilson of Climate Control Insulation, where we explored the practical benefits of open cell spray foam insulation and cleared up some of the confusion around its use in residential construction.
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Check out all the resources we have on our website, including a link to our YouTube page with hours of video training content! |
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