How does hardness work on creatures, above all when energy resistance is added?

[FlashRebel]

Looking for an original construct to make a challenging fight, I decided to make an animated object - not the best in terms of raw power but very customizable - modified with several templates (all stuff that a player with enough time and money could legally add to a personal creation without massive GM fiat), and noticed that an animated object can get some energy resistance at its creation.

By the rules, most resistances are specific and don't stack with each other (you can't stack several resistances to the same energy type, several sources of DR don't stack and only the highest one that can apply to the attack recieved works) but hardness is a bit special: according to the rules about damaging objects, hardness reduces damage regardless of type or source, although it's hard to tell if this applies to inanimate objects only or also to creatures.

Animated objects having an option to get energy resistance can mean one of two things:
- hardness on creatures only applies to physical damage, and energy resistance is necessary to reduce energy damage;
- hardness and energy resistance actually stack to reduce energy damage taken.

Which is correct?

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

Hardness on creatures definitely applies to all damage, including energy damage:

Universal Monster Rules wrote:

Hardness (Ex) When a creature with hardness takes damage, subtract its hardness from the damage. Only damage in excess of its hardness is subtracted from its hit points. A creature with hardness doesn't further reduce damage from energy attacks, ranged attacks, or other types of attacks as objects typically do. Adamantine weapons bypass hardness of 20 or less.

I'm pretty sure it stacks with energy resistance (rather than overlapping), but damned if I can find actual rules/faq text to that effect.

[Darrell Impey UK]

Does this help?

How does hardness work for creatures? Does energy damage such as cold deal half damage to creatures with hardness (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 173-174) even before applying the flat numerical reduction?
When a creature with hardness sustains damage, subtract its hardness from the damage dealt. The rules for halving damage, doubling damage, dealing damage with ineffective tools, immunities, and the like only apply to damaging inanimate objects.
(This is apparently a question the Design Team has received a few times during the development of Iron Gods, so they were ready to go with an answer!)

Here.