Home builders, designers and HVAC contractors pulling permits

Where is the house being permitted?

Draft the REScheck energy report and Manual J load calculation your permit office asks for, from your plans and address. Free to read, pay to download.

Free to read
No sign-up until the draft
Every fact cites its source

ePlan fills in

Climate zone
Adopted energy code
Floor area
Year built
Window orientation

How it works

REScheck compliance report and Manual J load calculation, from one answer

Enter the address and upload plans or list your insulation, windows and HVAC.One answer starts the project. ePlan names it and looks up the place.
ePlan fills the climate zone and adopted code, then runs the envelope and load math.3 more questions, each with a "not sure yet" way out.
Read the reports free, then download them to sign and submit with your permit.The draft marks what to check (amber), what to pick (blue) and what to fill in (violet).

What you get

REScheck compliance report and Manual J load calculation and 3 more documents

The first draft is free to read. Each document after it is drafted from the same confirmed facts.

The first draft

REScheck compliance report and Manual J load calculation

Project, address and climate zone
Energy code edition and compliance path
Walls, ceilings and floors (U-factor x area)
Windows, doors and orientation
Heating, cooling and duct location
Room-by-room heating and cooling loads

Modeled on: DOE REScheck-Web compliance certificate; ACCA Manual J, 8th edition

Next · 2

Manual S equipment selection and Manual D duct design

Design loads from Manual J
Equipment capacity at design conditions
Duct layout and friction rate
Register and grille schedule

Next · 3

COMcheck report for commercial and high-rise residential

Building area and use
Envelope compliance
Interior and exterior lighting
Mechanical systems
Requirements checklist

Next · 4

California Title 24 residential compliance (CF1R)

Climate zone and project scope
Prescriptive or performance path
Envelope and HVAC inputs
Documentation author and designer signatures

From public data

What ePlan fills in, and from where

IECC climate zoneDOE Building America Solution Center, IECC climate zone map
Energy code adopted in your stateDOE Building Energy Codes Program state portal
Floor area and year builtRegrid parcel data (county assessor)
Window orientation from the footprintMicrosoft US Building Footprints

3 stories

or less above grade is the limit for apartment and townhouse buildings in DOE's REScheck, which also covers one- and two-family homes
Source: DOE Building Energy Codes Program, REScheck

Questions

REScheck compliance report and Manual J load calculation: what people ask

What does REScheck check?

Whether a new home, addition or alteration meets the IECC or a state energy code. It works for one- and two-family homes and multifamily buildings three stories or less, and compares your envelope's heat loss (U-factor x area) with the same building built to code.

Source: energycodes.gov

Will my permit office ask for a Manual J?

Many do. The IRC sizes heating and cooling equipment by ACCA Manual S from Manual J loads (M1401.3) and ducts by Manual D (M1601.1). Pima County, Arizona, for example, won't accept plans for review without the J, S and D calculations.

Source: pima.gov

Does the load calculation software matter?

It can. ACCA keeps a list of approved software and says any program not on it is not ACCA-approved. ePlan isn't on that list, so ask your permit office which programs it accepts before you submit.

Source: acca.org