The federal Department of Energy (DOE) has reviewed 2010 engineering-standard changes and decided that better requirements for lighting, daylighting controls, environmental controls, building envelopes, mechanical systems and applicability more systems make them the way states should go with their codes for commercial buildings.

DOE said improvements in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2010, "Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings," will yield 18.2 percent savings in source energy demand and 18.5 percent reductions in site energy needs, Air Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration News reports.

“The foundation of energy efficient buildings continues to grow stronger with the news that DOE is now referencing the 2010 standard,” Ron Jarnagin, American Society of heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditions Engineers (ASHRAE) president, told the publication. “ASHRAE hopes to make that foundation even stronger through our current work with IES developing the 2013 standard.”

The 2010 standards update ones issued in 2007, which was the baseline used for comparing energy demands.