The overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) concept has been extended to correlate it with the chiller load through DOE-2 computer simulations. A survey of 83 commercial buildings completed between 1982 and 1992 indicates that about one-third of the existing building-envelope designs will not meet a proposed 35W/m(2) OTTV limit, which will be introduced in late 1994. Impacts of this legislation on electricity use in the commercial sector are assessed.