Harris County has no cool-roof or reflective-roof mandate because Texas counties lack adopted building-code authority for unincorporated areas. The 2015 International Energy Conservation Code, adopted statewide for residential construction under Health and Safety Code chapter 388, encourages but does not mandate reflective roofing.
Texas Health and Safety Code chapter 388 adopts the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code as the residential energy standard for new construction. The IECC includes optional credits for reflective roofs but no mandatory cool-roof requirement. Harris County does not enforce building code in unincorporated areas because Texas Local Government Code chapter 233 limits county code adoption authority. Cities like Houston enforce the IECC and amendments through their building departments, but Houston has not adopted a cool-roof mandate. ENERGY STAR rated reflective roofing voluntarily reduces cooling loads and is incentivized through some utility rebates such as CenterPoint Energy programs. Federal Inflation Reduction Act tax credits also offset roof upgrades.
Harris County imposes no cool-roof penalty because no rule exists. Failure to meet the 2015 IECC during city-permitted construction may trigger plan-review denial and civil penalties up to two thousand dollars per violation under municipal codes.
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Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Harris County.
See how Pasadena's cool roof requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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