How to Read a Title 24 Energy Report?
California's Title 24 energy report (the CF-1R for residential, NRCC forms for nonresidential) documents that the building's designed energy use beats the code baseline — it is the energy code's compliance certificate and a permit requirement. Reading it means checking three things: the building features the report claims (which must be built), the compliance margin (how comfortably it passes), and the mandatory measures (which apply regardless of the modeling).
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The compliance forms
The CF-1R/NRCC summarizes the modeled energy use versus the standard design: the 'compliance margin' percentage is the headline number. Below it, the forms list every modeled feature — insulation R-values, window U-factors and SHGC, HVAC efficiencies, water heating, lighting power densities. These are not suggestions; they are the permitted design. The field inspector verifies the installed features match the forms.
Mandatory measures
Separate from the performance modeling, Title 24 imposes mandatory measures that apply to every project: minimum insulation levels, HVAC sizing limits (no oversized equipment), duct sealing and testing, lighting controls, and (for solar) the photovoltaic requirements on new homes. The report's mandatory-measures checklist must all be satisfied — a project can pass the energy model and still fail on a mandatory item.
What owners and contractors check
Verify the report matches the actual plans (wrong window specs in the model are a top correction), confirm the HERS rater's verification requirements (duct testing, refrigerant charge verification, airflow measurements — scheduled during construction, not after), and keep the registered report with the permit set. Changes during construction (different windows, different HVAC) require re-running the compliance model — the report is a living document until final.
The bottom line
The Title 24 report's modeled features must be built as documented — verify the forms match the plans, satisfy all mandatory measures, and schedule HERS verification during construction.
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