ASHRAE COMcheck Texas Multifamily: Commercial Energy Code Path and When to Study First

If you are building mid-rise or mixed-use multifamily in Texas, the expensive question is not which HERS rater to call. It is which commercial energy code path the permit address enforces, whether that path is documented with an ASHRAE 90.1 model or a COMcheck report, and whether envelope or HVAC moves are worth it before anyone buys modeling hours. This page is the Texas commercial code-path door.

For the national study method, see feasibility study for energy code. For how energy modeling works on apartment buildings in general, see multifamily energy modeling. HERS rating multifamily describes a dwelling-unit rating path used heavily outside Texas. It is here only as a contrast: Texas mid-rise and mixed-use commercial compliance is not HERS-first.

What a COMcheck Means for Texas Multifamily

What is a COMcheck? It is the commercial energy code compliance report, and the U.S. Department of Energy software that produces it, used to show that a building meets the adopted commercial code. On a Texas multifamily or mixed-use job that the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) treats as commercial, that report is often the Texas building energy code compliance form the department wants with the permit set.

A COMcheck is not a HERS certificate, not a training credential, and not a generic file you download and stamp. The software is free from DOE. A filing-ready report is project-specific. It takes your drawings and checks envelope, interior lighting, exterior lighting, and mechanical systems against the code edition you select.

ASHRAE 90.1 is the commercial energy standard. The IECC commercial chapter lets a project comply with the IECC itself or with ASHRAE 90.1 as an alternative. COMcheck can document either path. The edition in the software has to be the edition the AHJ adopted. Pick the wrong year and a passing report is still the wrong filing.

Texas commercial energy code, in this sense, is paperwork plus a design target. Energy code compliance Texas is a permit-address question: which adopted edition the department will accept. It is not a class on how to click through the software.

Why Mid-Rise and Mixed-Use Land on ASHRAE and COMcheck

Under the IECC, a residential building is a one- and two-family dwelling, a townhouse, or a Group R-2, R-3, or R-4 building three stories or less above grade plane. Taller buildings are commercial. A four-story apartment building, a mid-rise, a high-rise, and most mixed-use buildings with retail or amenity the AHJ classifies as nonresidential land on the commercial chapter.

That is why COMcheck for Texas multifamily at this height is an ASHRAE 90.1 question, or an IECC commercial question, rather than a dwelling-unit HERS question. HERS rates homes and, in some states, low-rise or code-specific multifamily dwelling units. It is the wrong first assumption for a Texas commercial filing. If your team came from a HERS-first market, read HERS rating multifamily only to see the path you are not on.

Low-rise R-2 buildings at three stories or less can sit on the IECC residential chapter instead. Even then, Texas does not make HERS the default filing. Confirm the split with the code official before you model. Mixed-use jobs often need commercial documentation for the nonresidential area even when dwelling units follow a different chapter. Guessing that split after glass and HVAC are bought is an expensive rewrite.

Texas Energy Code Requirements: Confirm the Edition First

Statewide, the floor is still the 2015 IECC for commercial and industrial construction and for residential construction other than single-family. The State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) adopted that edition under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 388, effective November 1, 2016. Single-family construction follows a different adoption, the energy chapter of the International Residential Code. This page is not that door.

Local jurisdictions may adopt a newer IECC. Large cities can sit ahead of the state floor. The 2025 legislative analysis of SECO adoption authority noted Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio moving to 2021 standards, and SECO has taken comment on the 2024 IECC without replacing the statewide 2015 minimum. Your permit address can still be stricter than the state floor. Confirm it. Do not treat a statewide summary as the filing target.

The ASHRAE edition follows the IECC edition the city adopted. These pairings are what teams should verify with the AHJ, not a substitute for that check:

• 2015 IECC commercial alternative: ASHRAE 90.1-2013
• 2021 IECC commercial alternative: ASHRAE 90.1-2019
• 2024 IECC commercial alternative: ASHRAE 90.1-2022

Local amendments can change mandatory measures, forms, and which alternative the department prefers. Climate zone at the permit address changes envelope tables inside the same edition. Do not freeze wall, roof, glass, or HVAC selections against a blog summary of Texas energy code requirements.

Before design locks, confirm four things with the AHJ:

1. The adopted IECC edition at the permit address, state minimum or a local adoption
2. Whether you are filing IECC commercial or the ASHRAE 90.1 alternative, and which 90.1 year that edition references
3. Whether the whole building is commercial, or whether low-rise dwelling units and commercial areas split
4. The exact compliance report they will accept. COMcheck certificates are the usual Texas building energy code compliance form. Some cities add a cover sheet or their own checklist.

Where Can I Get a COMcheck, and Why the Study Comes First

Where can I get a COMcheck? Download the software from DOE if you want the tool. For a permit set, you want a report built from your drawings by someone who will stand behind the edition, the occupancy split, and the inputs. ECC prepares COMcheck and ASHRAE documentation as permit paperwork once that scope is locked. If the path is already chosen, see ECC services.

Buying those hours first is backwards. COMcheck proves a design. It does not rank designs. Teams that order the report before the path is chosen tend to:

• Run the software on the wrong IECC or ASHRAE year
• Force a HERS narrative onto a four-story commercial building the AHJ will not accept that way
• Freeze glazing or HVAC that a cheaper compliant package did not need
• Treat the compliance-report fee as the budget problem when path choice moves much larger construction dollars

A feasibility study compares buildable packages on your drawings before envelope and mechanical decisions lock. The method is the same one ECC already publishes. For how that comparison works, see feasibility study for energy code. For what the model is doing, see multifamily energy modeling. Texas commercial work uses that modeling to feed ASHRAE or COMcheck, not to invent a HERS target the jurisdiction did not ask for.

ECC does not have a published Texas COMcheck invoice to present as your number. We cite other studies as proof of method, and we label them that way.

On our 267-unit Cromwell, CT study (CS68), two buildings up to six stories (272,036 square feet) were filed under the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code on IECC commercial provisions, using ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Appendix G. The recommended all-electric tier came in at about $35.23 per square foot net and captured a $1,500 per unit Energize CT incentive ($400,500) that more than paid for the envelope upgrades on that path, including R-5 continuous exterior wall insulation and an R-19 spray-foam roof. Those figures are Connecticut commercial-code outcomes, not Texas invoices. They show the order: lock the ASHRAE path, rank the packages, then document the winner.

On a 112-unit Revere, MA study (CS57), a seven-story mixed-use building kept dwelling units on a Massachusetts Stretch HERS path. The recommended ductless package landed at about $42.52 per square foot net. The same study still called for a COMcheck report for common and support areas, plus ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation calculations and lighting power density calculations. Those figures are Massachusetts outcomes, not Texas invoices. They show why mixed-use paperwork splits matter before you buy modeling hours. Do not copy that HERS ceiling into a Texas commercial filing.

If you are early in design, start with a free feasibility study. If you already know the adopted edition and need ASHRAE modeling or a COMcheck for permit, see ECC services.

Bottom Line

ASHRAE COMcheck for Texas multifamily is a commercial energy code decision. Mid-rise, high-rise, and most mixed-use buildings land on IECC commercial or ASHRAE 90.1, documented with a COMcheck, not on a HERS-first dwelling-unit path. Confirm the adopted edition and the compliance form with the AHJ, compare envelope and HVAC packages on your drawings, and only then buy modeling and COMcheck hours. That order protects the permit set and the construction budget.