Cape Coral energy calcs & Manual J.
Fifty-character file names, a blank stamp square, and zone 1A heat.
Cape Coral takes energy calculations as a separate supporting PDF in its electronic submittal, with strict file rules: digitally drawn PDFs only, 50 MB per file, names under 50 characters, and resubmittals under the original file name with a response letter. The city issued 2,013 new single-family permits in 2025. It's climate zone 1A, with a 93°F cooling design.
- Department
- City of Cape Coral, Building DivisionEnerGov Citizen Self Service1
- Code edition
- FBC Energy Conservation, 8th Ed. (2023)9th Ed. (2026) scheduled for Dec 31, 2026 · what changes2
- Climate zone
- Zone 1A1% cooling 93°F · 99% heating 45°F3
- Price
- $195 · $445 · $595Energy calc from · full package · sealed. Same in all 67 counties · price list
- Ready by
- 2–3 business daysExpedited: within 24 business hours, +$150. Clock starts when complete plans pass intake (3:00 PM ET cutoff) · how it works
- Evidence
- 8 primary sourcesEvery number on this page links to its source · references
What Cape Coral reviewers ask for
The city's electronic submission rules list 'Energy Calculations' among the individual supporting documents, alongside the survey, site and drainage plans, product approval sheet and truss layout.4 Everything must be a digitally drawn PDF: no scans, no ZIP files and no links to third-party portals.4
The rest of the Cape Coral submittal notes2 more paragraphs
The file rules are where submittals bounce. Each PDF is capped at 50 MB, must not be locked or encrypted, and must allow city staff to annotate and stamp it; names stay under 50 characters, use underscores or dashes instead of spaces, and avoid characters such as ! $ % & * ?.4 A file that won't open is rejected immediately.4
Plan pages need a blank square in the upper-right title block for the city's stamp: 3 by 3 inches on 11×17 sheets and 4.5 by 4.5 on 24×36.4 Resubmittals must replace the entire affected PDF under the same file name, with a response letter listing each correction and where it can be found.4 We name our Cape Coral files to that rule from the start.
Building departments
1 department · addresses, phones, portals
Cape Coral permits every address inside the city, separately from unincorporated Lee County; the Lee County page covers the county office and the other cities that permit on their own. The city's e-permitting instructions give the Building Division's address as 1015 Cultural Park Blvd. and route permit email to buildingpermits@capecoral.net.5
| Department | Address | Phone | Portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Cape Coral, Building Division | 1015 Cultural Park Blvd., Cape Coral, FL 33990 | Official page | EnerGov Citizen Self Service1 |
Design conditions
93°F cooling · 45°F heating · zone 1A · weather stations
Cooling station: Fort Myers Page Field (Manual J). Heating station: Southwest Florida grid point (Manual J).3
Cape Coral shares Lee County's limits: 93°F cooling from Fort Myers Page Field and 45°F heating from a Southwest Florida grid point.3 Lee is climate zone 1A.2 Canal-front lots mean a lot of west and south glass facing open water, in our experience, so the orientation inputs in a Cape Coral Manual J matter more than the county's averages suggest.
Worked example
2,100 sq ft house → 30,590 Btu/h, 2.55 tons · illustrative
Illustrative · not a Manual J
A 2,100 sq ft canal home with 17% glazing, more than our county examples, because water views pull glass to the back of the house. At Lee's 93°F limit, that glass is a big share of the sensible load.
| House | new single-storey block canal home, southwest Cape |
|---|---|
| Conditioned area | 2,100 sq ft, 1 storey, 9.33 ft ceilings |
| Bedrooms / occupants | 3 / 4 |
| Glazing | 17% of floor area (357 sq ft), U 0.32, SHGC 0.25 |
| Walls / ceiling | R-7.8 walls, R-38 ceiling under a vented attic |
| Air leakage | 5 ACH50 |
| Ducts | in the attic, 8% gain allowance |
| Ventilation | mechanical, per FBC formula |
| Outdoor design | 93°F cooling / 45°F heating (sourced above) |
| Indoor design | 75°F cooling / 70°F heating |
| Design grains difference | 50 gr/lb (assumption) |
Illustrative only. A simplified block-load estimate with the inputs shown, not an ACCA Manual J, and not for permitting. A real calc goes room by room with your plans, orientation and equipment data. Code ceiling for single-stage cooling at 1.15× total load: 35,180 Btu/h.6
Local housing
Median year built 2000 · 79.4% single-family detached · Census ACS
Cape Coral's housing is 79.4% single-family detached and less than 1% mobile homes.7 The median home was built in 2000, 50.7% date from 2000 or later and 15.2% predate 1980.7 The city issued 2,013 one-unit permits in 2025, second only to Port St. Lucie among cities outside Jacksonville.8
Utility rebates
No confirmed residential A/C rebate listed
We haven't confirmed which utility rebate programs reach Cape Coral addresses, so we list none; ask your utility before pricing a rebate into the job.
Utility programs change often; check the program page before you count on a rebate.
Cape Coral questions
3 answers · How should I name files for a Cape Coral permit submittal?
How should I name files for a Cape Coral permit submittal?
Under 50 characters, with underscores or dashes instead of spaces, and without characters like ! $ % & * ? or slashes. Use plain names such as Energy_Calculations.pdf. When you resubmit, keep the original file name and replace the entire PDF, with a response letter itemizing the corrections.
Does Cape Coral accept scanned energy calcs?
No. Cape Coral's electronic submission requirements accept digitally drawn PDF files only, with no scans, ZIP files or links to third-party portals. Files can't be locked or encrypted and must allow city staff to add annotations and stamps, so export the energy calc directly from the software.
What climate zone is Cape Coral?
Zone 1A. Cape Coral is in Lee County, which the 8th Edition energy code's Table R301.1 places in climate zone 1A, warm-humid, with Collier, Hendry, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe. Lee's design limits are 93°F cooling and 45°F heating, from RESNET's county table.
Price
One statewide price in all 67 counties. Building departments decide what they accept; we don’t guarantee approval. Revisions for plan-review comments on the same design are free.
Nearby and related
Sources
8 primary references · numbered to match the citations
- 01City of Cape Coral, Permitting Services Divisioncapecoral.gov
- 022023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation (8th Ed.), Table R301.1, climate zones by countyup.codes
- 03RESNET / ENERGY STAR, Appendix A: HVAC Design Temperature Limits by State and County (v4, 2019). 1% cooling and 99% heating values drawn from the ASHRAE 2013 Handbook of Fundamentals and ACCA Manual J 8th Ed.resnet.us
- 04City of Cape Coral, Residential and Commercial Electronic Submission Requirements (PDF)capecoral.gov
- 05City of Cape Coral, Online Permitting Update: ePlan application process and instructions (PDF, revised 2020)capecoral.gov
- 06Florida Building Commission, R405-2026 documentation checklist example (quotes R403.7.1.1 cooling equipment sizing limits)floridabuilding.org
- 07U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates for Cape Coral (B25018, B25024, B25034, B25035, B25003, B25040), via Census Reportercensusreporter.org
- 08U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2025 annual place data, South Region (new 1-unit housing units by permit-issuing place)www2.census.gov