Polk County energy calcs & Manual J.
Separate PDFs, a blank stamp box, and a city-limits line to check.
Polk County's residential plan criteria list energy and load calculations for HVAC, and its plan-review rules require supporting documents such as energy calcs as separate PDFs, never combined with plan sheets. Applications go through the county's Accela portal. Polk is climate zone 2A, and the Lakeland City Office station sets 91°F cooling and 41°F heating.
- Department
- Polk County Building Divisionunincorporated · Accela Citizen Access + Digital Plan Room1
- Code edition
- FBC Energy Conservation, 8th Ed. (2023)9th Ed. (2026) scheduled for Dec 31, 2026 · what changes2
- Climate zone
- Zone 2A1% cooling 91°F · 99% heating 41°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
- 12 primary sourcesEvery number on this page links to its source · references
What Polk reviewers ask for
The county's customer guide puts energy calculations under the mechanical section of its minimum plan documents for one- and two-family homes, and lists 'Energy/Load Calculations (HVAC)' as its own item in the residential plan criteria.4 Applications start in the county's Accela portal with the parcel ID, water and sewer or septic documentation, and contractor licensing details.4
The rest of the Polk submittal notes2 more paragraphs
File discipline matters more here than in most counties. The plan-review page requires PDFs (up to 200 MB, unencrypted), wants supporting documents such as energy calcs, truss layouts and product approvals uploaded as separate files rather than merged into plan sheets, and asks for unique sheet numbers with bookmarks.1 Design professionals must leave a blank 2-by-4-inch space at the top right of every plan sheet for the Building Division's approval stamp.1
We deliver Polk packets pre-split: R405 or R402, Manual J, Manual S and Manual D each as their own bookmarked PDF, named the way the reviewer will see them.
Building departments
4 departments · addresses, phones, portals
Lakeland's rule is blunt: inside city limits the city permits everything, outside them Polk County does, and its address lookup settles which.10 Winter Haven and Haines City each keep a building division with their own officials and phone lines.67 Polk has more municipalities than these three; for Bartow, Lake Wales, Auburndale, Davenport and the rest, use each city's own building page.
| Department | Address | Phone | Portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polk County Building Division (unincorporated) | See official page | (863) 534-6080 (Bartow office) | Accela Citizen Access + Digital Plan Room1 |
| City of Lakeland, Building Inspection Division | 228 S. Massachusetts Ave., Lakeland, FL 33801 | 863-834-6012 | iMS5 |
| City of Winter Haven, Building & Permitting Division | 490 Third Street NW, Winter Haven, FL 33881 | 863-291-5695 | Accela6 |
| Haines City, Building Division | 620 E. Main Street, Haines City, FL 33845 | 863-421-3600 ext. 5253 | Permitting by email/portal7 |
Design conditions
91°F cooling · 41°F heating · zone 2A · weather stations
Cooling station: Lakeland City Office (Manual J). Heating station: Lakeland City Office (Manual J).3
Polk's design pair, 91°F and 41°F, comes from the Lakeland City Office record, and Hardee County to the south borrows the same station.3 Zone 2A.2 Inland Polk has no sea breeze to blunt afternoon peaks, but the design limit is the same 91°F as coastal Charlotte; what changes, in our reading, is how many hours the system spends near it.
Worked example
2,200 sq ft house → 29,000 Btu/h, 2.42 tons · illustrative
Illustrative · not a Manual J
A four-bedroom, 2,200 sq ft single-storey block house, about the 5.6-room median, with attic ducts.11 We gave it a 50-grain design moisture difference because inland Polk summers are humid without the coastal breeze; that choice is ours, and it is the input that most lifts the latent line.
| House | new single-storey block home, Davenport area |
|---|---|
| Conditioned area | 2,200 sq ft, 1 storey, 9.33 ft ceilings |
| Bedrooms / occupants | 4 / 5 |
| Glazing | 13% of floor area (286 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 | 91°F cooling / 41°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: 33,350 Btu/h.12
Local housing
Median year built 1996 · 63.8% single-family detached · Census ACS
Polk has the highest mobile-home share in our county set at 18.6%, and 63.8% single-family detached.11 Median year built is 1996, with 44.8% of units from 2000 on.11 Our observation, not a census figure: most of that growth sits along the I-4 and US-27 corridors. Electric heat covers 92.5% of occupied homes.11
Utility rebates
Duke Energy Florida · Tampa Electric (TECO)
- Duke Energy Florida. Duke territory customers can claim up to $1,000 in HVAC rebates, $300 for an A/C and $500 for a heat pump, once a Home Energy Check is on file from the previous 24 months and the job is permitted by a licensed contractor.8
- Tampa Electric (TECO). Homes on Tampa Electric lines use its Heating & Cooling Program instead, with rebates tiered by SEER2 for ducted systems.9
Utility programs change often; check the program page before you count on a rebate.
Polk County questions
3 answers · Can I combine the energy calc with my plans for Polk County?
Can I combine the energy calc with my plans for Polk County?
No. Polk's plan-review standards say supporting documents, energy calcs included, must be uploaded as separate PDF files and not combined with plan sheets. Keep each file under 200 MB, unencrypted, and give every plan sheet a unique number so the reviewer's bookmarks line up with your index.
Why does Polk County want a blank box on my plans?
It's for the approval stamp. The Building Division asks design professionals to leave a 2-by-4-inch blank space at the top right of every construction plan sheet, and Land Development wants a 2-by-2-inch space as well. Sheets without room for the stamp can come back before review starts.
Is my address permitted by Lakeland or by Polk County?
Lakeland says it plainly: if the address is inside city limits, the City of Lakeland handles all permitting; if not, Polk County does. Use the city's address lookup tool to check. Winter Haven and Haines City run their own building divisions too, with their own portals and phone numbers.
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
12 primary references · numbered to match the citations
- 01Polk County, Building Plan Review: general document standardspolkfl.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
- 04Polk County, Customer Guide to Permitting and Plans Review (PDF)polkfl.gov
- 05City of Lakeland, Building Inspection Divisionlakelandgov.net
- 06City of Winter Haven, Building Permits & Licensesmywinterhaven.com
- 07Haines City, Building Division staff directoryhainescityfl.gov
- 08Duke Energy Florida, Rebate for HVAC Replacementduke-energy.com
- 09Tampa Electric, Heating & Cooling Programtampaelectric.com
- 10City of Lakeland, Building Inspection FAQslakelandgov.net
- 11U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates (B25018, B25024, B25034, B25035, B25003, B25040), via Census Reportercensusreporter.org
- 12Florida Building Commission, R405-2026 documentation checklist example (quotes R403.7.1.1 cooling equipment sizing limits)floridabuilding.org