California Energy Code
California's Title 24, Part 6 Building Energy Efficiency Standards includes cool roof requirements for new and existing buildings.
California Building Energy Efficiency Standards
Updated January 2, 2026
The 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings (Title 24, Part 6 or Energy Code), effective January 1, 2026, contain requirements for the thermal emittance, three-year aged reflectance, and Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) of roofing materials used in new construction and re-roofing projects.
The requirements apply to new construction, additions, and alterations (including roof recoverings) on nonresidential (including motel and hotels and relocatable public school buildings), multifamily buildings, and single-family residential buildings. The requirements vary based on climate zone, building type, roof square footage, and roof slope (low or steep).
Any roofing product used for compliance must be rated by the CRRC (see section 10-113 of the Energy Code). The CRRC Rated Roof Products Directory lists actively rated products. To meet the labelling requirements in section 10-113, a CRRC Product Label on product packaging may be used for code compliance.
What’s New in the 2025 Energy Code
The 2025 Energy Code includes changes to the mandatory requirements for calculating Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) for all roofing products and the prescriptive requirements for roofing products installed on multifamily (MF) buildings. The table below summarizes the requirements.
| Section 110.8i(3) | Mandatory SRI calculation requirements |
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Section 170.2(a)1A Table 170.2-A | Prescriptive MF New Construction |
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| Section 180.2(b)1Ai | Prescriptive MF Alterations (and Additions (180.1(a)1A) by reference of Section 170.2(a)) |
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The mandatory and prescriptive cool roofing requirements can be found in the following sections of the 2025 Title 24, Part 6 standards:
Section 10-113(a, b) (Mandatory Certification and Labeling of Roofing Product Reflectance and Emittance)
Section 110.8(i) (Mandatory Insulation, Roofing Products & Radiant Barriers)
Section 140.1 (Performance Approach: Energy Budgets (Nonresidential))
Section 140.2 (Prescriptive Approach (Nonresidential));
Section 140.3(a)1 (Prescriptive Requirements for Building Envelopes (Nonresidential))
Section 140.3(a)8 (Prescriptive Requirements for Relocatable Public School Buildings)
Section 141.0(b)2B (Additions, Alterations, and Repairs to Existing Nonresidential)
Section 150.1(c)11 (Performance and Prescriptive Compliance Approaches for Single-Family Residential Buildings);
Section 150.2(b)1I (Energy Efficiency Standards for Additions and Alterations to Existing Single-Family Residential Buildings – Alterations - Prescriptive);
Section 150.2(b)2 (Energy Efficiency Standards for Additions and Alterations to Existing Low-Rise Residential Buildings – Alterations – Performance Approach;
Section 170.2(a)1 (Prescriptive Requirements for Multifamily New Construction)
Section 180.1(a,b) (Prescriptive Requirements for Multifamily Additions and Alterations)
CEC Resources
CEC SRI Calculation Worksheet
An alternative to the aged solar reflectance and thermal emittance required values is to use the solar reflectance index (SRI) to show compliance. A calculation worksheet is available to calculate the SRI by inputting the three-year aged solar reflectance and thermal emittance of the desired roofing material: https://www.energy.ca.gov/zh-TW/filebrowser/download/8730?fid=8730
CEC Compliance Manuals
These documents, a part of the energy conservation manual, are designed to help the building industry comply with and regulators enforce the 2025 Energy Code for residential, nonresidential, and multifamily buildings. They are written as a reference and an instructional guide and can be helpful for anyone that is directly or indirectly involved in design and construction.
CEC Envelope Factsheets
For more information on Title 24, please visit https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards. You can also contact the California Energy Commission by phone (800) 772-3300 (toll-free in California) or 916-654-5106 (outside California) or email [email protected].
Additional Resources*
* The below resources are not official Title 24 documents. Please refer to the 2025 Energy Code for the official requirements.
CRRC 2025 Title 24, Part 6 Cool Roofing Requirements Summary Chart (for reference only)
2025 Restructured Code
The California Energy Commission (CEC) created a restructured version of the 2025 Energy Code and is seeking public comments on the Restructured 2025 Energy Code. The Restructured 2025 Energy Code was developed by the CEC in response to public feedback suggesting that aligning the structure of the Energy Code with other parts of the California Building Standards Code (Title 24) would improve usability and navigation. The Restructured 2025 Energy Code uses the adopted 2025 Energy Code regulatory language but is reorganized with renumbered sections. Minor editorial edits were made to support the new structure however these changes do not alter the regulatory requirements. This format and numbering have not been formally adopted. The document is provided solely as a public resource to gather feedback that may inform future Energy Code updates. It is not an official regulatory document and should not be used in place of the formally adopted code. Written comments and technical inquiries may also be submitted by email to the CEC Building Standards Branch at [email protected]
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