The Legislature hereby adopts the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code published by the International Code Council as the Nebraska Energy Code. The Director of Environment and Energy may adopt regulations specifying alternative standards for building systems, techniques, equipment designs, or building materials that shall be deemed equivalent to the Nebraska Energy Code. Regulations specifying alternative standards may be deemed equivalent to the Nebraska Energy Code and may be approved for general or limited use if the use of such alternative standards would not result in energy consumption greater than would result from the strict application of the Nebraska Energy Code.