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Glossary
Energy standards and regulation

What is Title 24, Part 6?

Definition

Title 24, Part 6 is the California Energy Code, the mandatory Building Energy Efficiency Standards that the California Energy Commission adopts for new buildings, additions and alterations.

Projects it governs

It applies to residential and nonresidential projects permitted in California, including many alterations. Architects, energy consultants, contractors, acceptance test technicians and local building departments all work to it, and acceptance tests confirm that installed lighting and HVAC controls operate as designed before handover.

Code cycle

The California Energy Commission updates the standards every three years. The 2025 standards took effect on 1 January 2026, following the 2022 standards that applied from 1 January 2023, and the 2028 cycle is in pre-rulemaking.

Keeping controls working after acceptance

Acceptance testing proves a sequence works on handover day. Aqueduct watches the same equipment afterwards: setpoint attainment, comfort compliance and sequence exceptions per RTU, plus peak demand per feeder from the electric twin. Where control is enabled, with owner approval, load sequencing keeps refrigeration and HVAC starts from stacking into one demand peak.

Questions

Title 24, Part 6: common questions

Title 24, Part 6 is California's state energy code for buildings, adopted by the California Energy Commission and enforced by local building departments at permit. It sets envelope, lighting, HVAC, water heating and controls requirements, with acceptance testing before occupancy. It plays the role that ASHRAE 90.1 plays in many other states.

No. Part 6 holds the mandatory energy requirements, while CALGreen, Part 11, is the green building code that also carries voluntary energy efficiency provisions. A California project usually meets both, with Part 6 checked through compliance documents and acceptance tests at permit and handover.

No. The standards apply when work is done, so additions and alterations must meet them for the parts being changed. Existing buildings in California face operating rules from other laws instead, such as the benchmarking program described under California SB 555.

Title 24 requires certain nonresidential buildings to support demand response, so systems can shed load when a utility signals. Aqueduct shows the resulting effect in metered kW per feeder, which helps owners judge whether those controls actually lower peak demand and the demand charges that follow from it.

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