Cook County Building Code Ch. 32 adopts the International Energy Conservation Code without a separate cool-roof reach code. Reflective roofing is incentivized but not mandated outside Chicago, which has its own cool-roof requirement under the Chicago Energy Code.
Cook County Code Ch. 32 (Building) adopts the 2018 IECC for unincorporated Cook and provides a model code that suburbs may adopt. The IECC includes minimum solar reflectance index (SRI) requirements only for low-slope roofs in commercial buildings in climate zone 1-3, which excludes Cook County (zone 5A). The county does not impose stricter cool-roof rules. Chicago, as a separate jurisdiction, requires SRI 78 minimum for low-slope roofs under the Chicago Energy Conservation Code. Suburban municipalities follow their own building codes; most adopt the IECC unchanged.
No county penalties for non-reflective roofs. Permit applicants in unincorporated Cook need only meet IECC insulation minimums. Chicago violations carry separate building-code fines under MCC 14B.
See how Des Plaines's cool roof requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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