Model energy code and passive solar homes

The Model Energy Code (MEG) was developed by the Council of American Building Officials, with numerous reviewers. The MEC seeks to establish a national code for the thermal efficiency of residential-style buildings. It attempts to simplify the evaluation of a home's relative energy efficiency - a goal which may favor code enforcement officials, but can penalize passive solar homes. Among the reasons that passive solar homes have a more difficult path to code compliance are: The orientation of the windows are of no importance in much of the MEG; thus large areas of south-facing windows would not receive credit for their assistance on winter heating bills Thermal mass is not accounted for except to reduce the insulation requirements of exterior walls Natural cooling measures are not specifically addressed since the primary provisions of the code are calculated from the heating degree days of the local climate.