Is it permissible to use the California Energy Code (Title 24) as the reference standard for LEED projects outside the State of California? (Note: this CIR has been submitted by USGBC for administrative purposes)
No. The California Energy code is written to specifically address climate, utility, and other characteristics of the State of California. These requirements are inappropriate for or do not apply to other parts of the country. Furthermore, code jurisdictions outside of California do not have the expertise to evaluate performance claims under Title 24, so it is impossible to determine if Title 24 represents a code that "meets or exceeds local energy code requriements". Studies which have compared ASHRAE 90.1 to Title 24 have focused on California conditions, and do not demonstrate equivalence with ASHRAE 90.1 for other national locations. Projects outside of California must use ASHRAE 90.1 to demonstrate compliance with EA prerequisite 2 and EA credit 1.