ALL FOUR LANDSCAPES
What should I ask about a home in each landscape?
Each card holds what the painting suggests, what the source says, and the building question to take to the people who can answer it.
01 / COAST
Where the Pacific meets the building
Sea air, morning fog and a view of the water are what most people picture near the coast. The painting gathers those impressions into one shoreline. It follows no CEC boundary line.
WHAT THE SOURCE SAYS
The CEC says the statewide Energy Code accounts for California's climates with sixteen zones, and that several efficiency standards, “such as those for envelope and fenestration (window and door) materials,” depend on the zone a building is in.
The building question: Which zone does the CEC lookup give for this exact address?
You can enter the address in the CEC's EZ Building Climate Zone Search Tool yourself. Where a ZIP code holds more than one climate region, the CEC lets the local jurisdiction designate a single zone for the whole ZIP code, so ask the city or county building department which zone it uses for the project.
CEC — Climate Zone Tool, Maps and Information ↗02 / INLAND
A few miles can change the questions
The painting trades the ocean for open plains and a wide, bright sky, a natural place to think about windows and sun. Window advice brings a second map with it: California's Energy Code uses the CEC's sixteen building climate zones, while federal window guidance speaks in broad climate types and ENERGY STAR's climate zones.
WHAT THE SOURCE SAYS
DOE's federal window-buying guidance says the energy savings of windows, doors and skylights “varies according to climate,” and that features that help in one climate “may offer little benefit in another.” It recommends low solar heat gain coefficients (SHGC) in warm climates where air conditioning costs are the concern, high SHGCs in cold climates to use the sun's heat, and products that meet ENERGY STAR's levels for the climate zone where they will be installed.
The building question: Which climate zone is this window recommendation talking about?
When a rating, a product sheet or an article says a window suits “your climate zone,” ask whether it means an ENERGY STAR zone or the CEC zone that California's Energy Code uses. The supplier can show the window's NFRC label, and your designer or the building department can confirm what the Energy Code asks for at the address.
DOE — Purchasing Energy-Efficient Residential Windows ↗03 / DRY INTERIOR
Light, exposure and the envelope
Desert scenes call up hard sun, hot afternoons and the wish for shade. How a real roof, wall or window handles that heat is a question for its design and its materials, not for the color of a painted sky.
WHAT THE SOURCE SAYS
The CEC says buildings whose permit applications are applied for on or after January 1, 2026, must comply with the 2025 Energy Code. It describes that edition as expanding heat pumps in newly built homes, encouraging electric-readiness and strengthening ventilation standards.
The building question: Which edition of the Energy Code will this project be reviewed under?
The CEC ties the edition to the date the permit application is filed, not to the weather. The building department reviewing the permit confirms which edition applies, and your designer or contractor works to it.
CEC — 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards ↗04 / HIGHLANDS
Elevation changes the conversation
Ridges, pines and a dusting of snow suggest cold nights, steep lots and homes used by the season. The painting is a mood board for those questions; it doesn't place a single home on the CEC's map.
WHAT THE SOURCE SAYS
The CEC says its Building Energy Efficiency Standards “serve to reduce wasteful, uneconomical, and unnecessary uses of energy” through requirements in the Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6), and that the standards are updated every three years.
The building question: Which questions here does an Energy Code zone not answer?
A climate zone feeds those energy standards; it isn't a snow, freeze or wildfire rating. For those questions, ask the local building department which other reviews apply to the site, and work through them with a qualified designer or engineer.
CEC — Building Energy Efficiency Standards ↗