What Is CBECC? The State's Free Title 24 Compliance Software Explained
CBECC, short for California Building Energy Code Compliance, is the Energy Commission's public-domain program. It simulates a proposed building and compares it with a standard design energy budget. CBECC-Res is the residential version. A run alone is not a compliance document.
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Where the name comes from
The Warren-Alquist Act requires performance standards expressed as an energy budget for a building. To calculate one, the Energy Commission developed a compliance manager under Public Resources Code Section 25402.1, and that public-domain program is CBECC. The same law lets the Commission approve privately developed programs as alternatives, which is why you meet other names on quotes.
Residential and the rest
CBECC-Res is the residential version. Approved third-party programs use the same simulation engine and the same report generator, and may add their own screens and forms. For multifamily and nonresidential work, the Commission's manual calls the reference public-domain program CBECC, which uses EnergyPlus for simulation; ask your preparer which program produced a given multifamily form.
What it does and does not do
It builds the reference house automatically and reports the result. It does not make a certificate. The CF1R must carry a declaration and the signatures of the documentation author and the responsible person, and it is registered where field verification applies. Compliance software may not check mandatory measures automatically, so the preparer confirms them. It includes an assembly calculator for U-factors of wood and metal framed assemblies that the Joint Appendix tables do not list, and its output can go into the submittal.
Can an owner use it?
The program is free, but a usable CF1R needs correct inputs from the plans, an understanding of what the reference house assumes, and qualified signers. The traps are the ones in how calculations are done: wrong window areas, assumed equipment, a skipped mandatory measure. The calculator page shows what you can safely work out by hand.
Versions matter
Each approved program needs its own compliance supplement, and approvals expire as newer versions are approved. The Commission publishes the list of approved software, and the Energy Code Hotline can help locate and install it. See compliance software and the reference manual guide for the cycle. If you want the report prepared, start with our residential service or the multi-family service.
Common Title 24 Questions
- What is Title 24?
- Do I need a Title 24 report?
- How much does a Title 24 report cost?
- How long does a Title 24 report take?
- What is included in a Title 24 report?
- What plans do I need to upload?
Frequently Asked Questions
No. CBECC is the program. The CF1R is the signed certificate it helps produce.
Approved programs share the same simulation engine, so differences come from inputs, not from the arithmetic.
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