Irving TX Energy Code Multifamily: 2024 IECC, Green Building Rules, and When to Study First

If you are building multifamily inside the City of Irving, Texas, you are on the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code, effective May 1, 2026, and on top of it you may owe the City's own green building performance standards for multifamily and mixed-use development. Irving adopted the 2024 IECC with local amendments by Ordinance 2026-11253, adopted March 26, 2026, which replaced the 2021 codes that had been in effect since February 13, 2023. That puts Irving with Frisco, Plano, McKinney, and Austin on the 2024 edition, while Dallas, Arlington, Denton, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso sit on the 2021 IECC. What sets Irving apart is Section 8B-30: a 10 percent improvement over the code baseline, all-electric HVAC and appliance infrastructure, SEER 16 or higher equipment, and net-zero ready infrastructure on new apartment and residential mixed-use projects. Teams get caught when they price a plain code-minimum package from a neighboring city, or when they find the green building section after design development.

This page is the Irving Energy Code door for multifamily developers. For the statewide Texas commercial code path (the 2015 IECC floor, ASHRAE pairings, and why mid-rise is not HERS-first), see ASHRAE COMcheck Texas multifamily. For the Texas study door, see energy code feasibility study Texas. Other Texas city doors already live: Houston Energy Code multifamily, Austin Energy Code multifamily, Dallas Energy Code multifamily, San Antonio Energy Code multifamily, Fort Worth Energy Code multifamily, El Paso Energy Code multifamily, Corpus Christi Energy Code multifamily, Arlington Energy Code multifamily, Plano Energy Code multifamily, McKinney Energy Code multifamily, Frisco Energy Code multifamily, and Denton Energy Code multifamily. Program, testing, and modeling context: ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction, blower door testing for multifamily buildings, and multifamily energy modeling.

What Code Applies in Irving Right Now

Per the City of Irving Codes and Ordinances page and the City's adopted code text (primary sources; confirm with the City before you file):

• The City lists its 2024 I-Codes as effective May 1, 2026. The 2021 I-Codes were effective February 13, 2023, and the 2015 I-Codes before that from January 11, 2016.
• Chapter 8B, Building Codes, of the Irving Land Development Code was repealed and replaced by Ordinance 2026-11253, adopted March 26, 2026. Section 8B-5 adopts the 2024 IECC as the energy conservation code of the City of Irving, and Section 8B-6 carries the local amendments, additions, and deletions.
• The 2024 I-Codes amendments were reviewed by the Construction Board of Appeals at a public hearing on March 9, 2026, and the ordinance states it takes effect May 1, 2026. The same ordinance deletes IRC Chapter 11 so that the 2024 IECC as adopted by Irving controls residential energy efficiency.
• Section 8B-30 sets green building performance standards for multifamily and mixed-use development. The City lists its Multifamily Green Building Requirements as effective August 30, 2025.

Irving sits in Dallas County, climate zone 3A (warm, humid), the same zone as Dallas, Arlington, Fort Worth, Plano, McKinney, Frisco, and Denton. Same zone and the same edition as Frisco, but a different set of amendments and a green building layer Frisco does not have. Do not copy a neighboring city's package.

Irving Green Building Standards for Multifamily (Section 8B-30)

Section 8B-30 applies to new multifamily and residential mixed-use construction, to existing buildings substantially reconstructed to convert from commercial to multifamily or residential mixed-use, and to existing multifamily buildings substantially reconstructed in a single project. Substantial reconstruction means demolishing or rebuilding 50 percent or more of the gross floor area, or removing, replacing, or structurally altering 50 percent or more of the exterior walls and roof assembly. Interior renovations, maintenance, and repairs under those thresholds are not covered. Multifamily means three or more dwelling units; residential mixed-use means residential is at least 65 percent of the total square footage.

The energy and efficiency items that change a feasibility study:

• Minimum 10 percent improvement over the IECC baseline performance.
• Net-zero ready infrastructure, solar-ready and battery-ready.
• All-electric HVAC and appliance infrastructure.
• High-efficiency HVAC, SEER 16 or higher.

The section also sets indoor environmental quality items (MERV 13 filtration, ASHRAE 62.2 compliant ventilation, VOC limits, STC and IIC of 50 or more), water efficiency (toilets 1.0 gpf or less, showers 1.5 gpm or less, faucets 1.0 gpm or less, smart irrigation controllers, rainwater and graywater reuse readiness), roofing (SRI of 78 or more on low-slope roofs and 29 or more on steep-slope roofs, Class 4 hail resistance), 75 percent construction waste diversion, a construction IAQ management plan, bicycle parking at one space per five units, and EV infrastructure readiness for at least 15 percent of parking.

Two details matter for schedule and scope. The section was written against the 2021 codes, but it states that the building codes most recently adopted by the City, with local amendments, serve as the baseline, and that the most stringent rule controls in a direct conflict. A project approved by City Council through a development agreement, site plan zoning, a multifamily concept plan, or a TOD concept or detailed plan before August 30, 2025 is exempt until September 1, 2030, after which any permit is subject to the section.

What Irving Changed in the 2024 IECC

The Irving amendments in Section 8B-6 that matter most for apartment projects:

• Alternative compliance (C104.1.2 and R104.1.2). A building certified by a national, state, or local accredited energy efficiency program and determined by the Energy Systems Laboratory to comply may, at the Code Official's option, be considered in compliance. ENERGY STAR certification of energy code equivalency is considered in compliance. On the residential side, each 1- and 2-family dwelling is still tested for air and duct leakage regardless of program or path.
• Energy recovery for nontransient dwelling units (C403.7.4.1). Dwelling units on the commercial provisions need outdoor air energy recovery ventilation meeting either an enthalpy recovery ratio of at least 50 percent at cooling design and 60 percent at heating design, or a sensible recovery efficiency of at least 65 percent at 32°F with net moisture transfer of at least 40 percent at 95°F in climate zone 3A. The amended section lists exceptions, including units with 500 square feet or less of conditioned floor area in climate zone 3, and an Irving exception that treats dwelling units using ventilation systems per the fan efficacy table in R406 as in compliance.
• Dwelling unit lighting and switched receptacle controls deleted (C405.2.10). Irving removed this commercial requirement for sleeping units and dwelling units.
• Commercial renewable section not deleted. Irving's commercial amendments list C101.1, C104.1.2, C403.7.4.1, and C405.2.10. They do not delete C405.15 Renewable Energy Systems, which Frisco and Plano deleted. Confirm the renewable requirement with the City early on any project filed on the commercial provisions.
• Residential changes. R105.2.2 solar-ready construction documents deleted, R408 additional efficiency requirements deleted, R404.2 interior lighting controls deleted, field-sealed outlet boxes allowed in lieu of NEMA OS 4 boxes, an attic roofline option (U-0.035, or R-30 air-impermeable insulation below the roof deck when equipment and ducts are inside the envelope), a slab-edge insulation exception where the code official designates moderate to heavy or very heavy termite infestation probability, and a replaced ERI table for climate zones 2 and 3.
• Performance path rewritten (R405.2). The proposed envelope thermal conductance must be no more than 1.15 times the prescriptive reference in climate zones 3 through 8, area-weighted fenestration SHGC is capped at 0.30 in climate zones 0 through 3, and annual energy cost must be at or below the standard reference design. Source energy may be substituted with an electricity multiplier of 2.51, or site energy may be used instead.

Residential vs Commercial Split for Multifamily

The 2024 IECC draws the line by building type and height. Group R-2, R-3, and R-4 buildings three stories or less above grade plane fall under the residential provisions. Taller apartment buildings, and the nonresidential portions of any building, fall under the commercial provisions, where the 2024 IECC commercial chapter or its ASHRAE 90.1-2022 alternative applies.

• Mid-rise, podium, and mixed-use projects. Retail, amenity, lobby, corridor, and parking areas follow commercial documentation, dwelling units face the energy recovery ventilation rule, and the renewable section question has to be answered before the roof is designed. Section 8B-30 then layers all-electric infrastructure, SEER 16, and a 10 percent improvement on top.
• Garden-style and townhome projects. Three stories or less usually lands on the residential provisions, where Irving's rewritten performance path and ERI table set the modeling targets, and Section 8B-30 still applies to new multifamily of three or more units.

Proof From ECC Studies (Method, Not Irving Invoices)

ECC does not publish an Irving or Texas dollar-per-square-foot average, and we do not have an Irving energy-code 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 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). Those are Connecticut outcomes on an earlier ASHRAE year, not Irving invoices. They show the order that an all-electric requirement like Irving's rewards: lock the path and edition, 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 and still called for a COMcheck report for all common and support areas, plus ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation calculations and lighting power density calculations. The recommended ductless package landed at about $42.52 per square foot net. Those are Massachusetts outcomes. We cite them as proof that mixed-use paperwork splits before modeling hours, not as an Irving price.

Common Mistakes on Irving Multifamily Energy Filings

• Pricing a 2021 IECC package. Irving is on the 2024 IECC from May 1, 2026. Dallas, Arlington, and Denton are still on the 2021 IECC.
• Stopping at code minimum. Section 8B-30 asks new multifamily for a 10 percent improvement over the IECC baseline, all-electric HVAC and appliance infrastructure, and SEER 16 or higher equipment. A code-minimum gas package from another city does not carry over.
• Assuming a pre-August 2025 approval exempts the project forever. The exemption for projects approved before August 30, 2025 runs until September 1, 2030. Permits after that date are subject to the section.
• Copying a Frisco or Plano commercial filing. Those cities deleted C405.15 Renewable Energy Systems. Irving's amendments do not.
• Skipping energy recovery on dwelling units. C403.7.4.1 applies to nontransient dwelling units on the commercial provisions unless an exception fits, such as units of 500 square feet or less in climate zone 3 or ventilation per the R406 fan efficacy table.
• Buying COMcheck or ERI hours before the path is locked. The study should settle residential vs commercial, 2024 IECC vs ASHRAE 90.1-2022 for commercial areas, how the 10 percent improvement is measured, the alternative compliance option, and the testing plan, then the paperwork follows.

When to Study First

Settle the Irving path before anyone buys REScheck, COMcheck, ERI, or whole-building modeling hours:

1. Confirm the permit address is inside the City of Irving and on the 2024 IECC as amended under Ordinance 2026-11253 for your filing date
2. Check whether Section 8B-30 applies (new multifamily or residential mixed-use, substantial reconstruction, or a pre-August 30, 2025 approval that is exempt until September 1, 2030)
3. Lock the residential vs commercial split (three stories or less for Group R-2 / R-3 / R-4 on the residential provisions, and commercial documentation for nonresidential areas)
4. For each commercial portion, pick 2024 IECC commercial or ASHRAE 90.1-2022, size energy recovery for the dwelling units, and confirm the renewable requirement
5. Model all-electric envelope, window, ventilation, and HVAC packages side by side for climate zone 3A against a 10 percent improvement target, and decide whether an accredited program path, such as ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction, is worth using for alternative compliance
6. Produce the COMcheck reports, performance models, and test results against the locked plan

That comparison is what a free feasibility study produces. For the Texas study method, see energy code feasibility study Texas. For how modeling works on apartment buildings in general, see multifamily energy modeling. If the path is already chosen and you need COMchecks, modeling, inspections, or testing, see ECC services.

Bottom Line

The Irving energy code for multifamily is the 2024 IECC with the City's amendments in Section 8B-6, adopted by Ordinance 2026-11253 and effective May 1, 2026, plus the Section 8B-30 green building standards for multifamily and mixed-use development. Irving kept alternative compliance through accredited programs and ENERGY STAR equivalency, wrote an R406 fan efficacy exception into the dwelling unit energy recovery rule, deleted dwelling unit lighting controls, left the commercial renewable section in place, rewrote the residential performance path, and asks new apartments for all-electric infrastructure, SEER 16, and a 10 percent improvement, all in climate zone 3A. This is the Irving city-code door, not the statewide Texas code-path page, not the other Texas city doors, and not the Texas study door. Lock the green building scope, the split, and the edition first, then buy the paperwork that matches the plan.