The First Facility Management Blog

Public input to help shape the technical requirements in Standard 90.1 is being sought through 21 proposed addenda, which could become part of the 2010 standard. ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings. The proposed addenda cover a range of topic areas, including daylighting, air leakage, EER and IEER values, and requirements for VRF air conditioners and heat pumps.

“Our goal is to produce a standard to increase energy efficiency in buildings,” Mick Schwedler, Standard 90.1 committee chair, stated. “Public input from the industry into development of the standard has proven invaluable since it was first published 35 years ago.”

Daylighting image courtesy of Sunoptics

If no comments are received on the addenda, they likely will be incorporated into the 2010 version of the standard slated to be published this fall. If comments are received, the substance and volume of those comments will determine whether they are incorporated into the 2010 standard.

Daylighting And Computer Rooms Among Possible Changes

Among the proposed addenda are two that deal with daylighting. Addendum cu, which would control the “night lights” that are part of the emergency system when there are no occupants in the space. Today, generally by default, lights are kept on even if buildings are unoccupied. Therefore, there are savings to shut them off. Addendum ct would reduce the threshold for daylighting to 250 square feet from 1,000 square feet.

In another area, addendum bu would modify computer room efficiency requirements based on comments from an earlier public review.

“The 90.1 committee worked closely with manufacturers, designers, and owners of computer rooms to address comments and produce the language in this addendum,” said Drake Erbe, Mechanical Subcommittee chair.

The public review and comment period for this first group of 12 addenda runs from March 5 to April 4, 2010:

• Addendum bb would modify Appendix C and Appendix A in response to comments received on the previous version of the addendum, which modifies all fenestration and opaque assembly requirements in the standard.
• Addendum bf would place performance requirements for air leakage of the opaque envelope. Performance requirements have existed on fenestration and door products to date, but evidence suggests that the opaque envelope is the source of the majority of air leakage in buildings caused by lack of attention in the design, construction and enforcement process due to the absence of performance criteria.
• Addendum bz addresses the comments received during the first public review calling for clarification of the requirements to reduce misinterpretation on the proposed monitoring requirements.
• Addendum ce would clarify the requirements and avoid conflicts with other existing requirements for lighting space control.
• Addendum cs originated with a continuous maintenance proposal to address information received on addendum bs on receptacles after the public review period closed and which the committee found to have merit.
• Addendum cu would control the “night lights” that are part of the emergency system when there are no occupants in the space. This has definite energy savings and is not prohibited by the electrical codes.
• Addendum cv would add energy efficiency requirements for service water pressure booster systems.
• Addendum cw would address corrections and clarification necessary to Section 11, Table 11.3.1 section 11 Service Hot Water Systems.
• Addendum cx would allow a 40 percent window wall area path within the prescriptive Tables 5.5-1 through 5.5-8.
• Addendum cz would incorporate bi-level control for parking garages to reduce the wasted energy associated with unoccupied periods for many garages and allows an exception for lighting in the transition (entrance/exit) areas to accommodate IES recommendations.
• Addendum da would establish that an Appendix G baseline shall be based on the minimum ventilation requirements required by local codes or a rating authority and not the proposed design ventilation rates.
• Addendum dc: The conditions and common practice that existed to create the need for this requirement on tandem wiring are no longer practiced primarily with the new Federal efficacy requirements and products available on the market.

The public review and comment period for these nine addenda runs from March 5-April 19, 2010:

• Addendum bu would modify the computer room efficiency requirements based on comments received during the first public review.
• Addendum cd would strengthen the language to actually require exterior control rather than just require the control capability; add bi-level control for general all-night applications such as parking lots to reduce lighting when not needed; and add control for façade and landscaping lighting not needed after midnight.
• Addendum cn would add two versions of a combined advanced control to the control incentives table.  These control system combinations involve personal workstation control and workstation-specific occupancy sensors for open office applications. The control incentive will apply only to the particular controls when they are applied in open office areas.
• Addendum co would make three major amendments to Table 6.8.1A: update EER and IEER values for all condensing units and water and evaporatively cooled air conditioners with cooling capacities greater than 65,000 Btu/h; establish a separate product class for evaporatively cooled air conditioners with different energy efficiency standards; and replace the IPLV descriptor for condensing units with the new IEER metric and amends the EERs with more stringent values.
• Addendum cp would establish, for the first time in Standard 90.1, efficiency requirements for VRF air conditioners and heat pumps, including heat pumps that use a water source for heat rejection.
• Addendum cq would modify the duct sealing requirements in 90.1.
• Addendum cr would set a definition for an unmet load hour currently lacking a throttling range or limit to the setpoint. It was decided that the baseline and proposed shall have the same thermostat throttling range. This required additional language in the unmet load hour definition as to how throttling range effects determination of an unmet hour along with additional language in Table 11.3.1 and Table G3.1, Design Model sections.
• Addendum ct would reduce the threshold for daylighting from 1000 square feet to 250 square feet.
• Addendum cy would make several revisions to the economizer requirements in section 6.5.1 and in section 6.3.2

The proposed addenda to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 are available for comment only during their public review period. To read the addenda or to comment, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews. The addenda for Standard 90.1 can be found under the heading: 45-Day Public Review Period from March 5, 2010 to April 19, 2010.

A new standard for the design of high performance green buildings is set to revolutionize the building industry. Published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the first code intended commercial green building standard in the United States.

The standard provides a green building foundation for those who strive to design, build, and operate green buildings. From site location to energy use to recycling, this standard will set the foundation for green buildings through its adoption into local codes. It covers key topic areas similar to green building rating systems: site sustainability, water use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials and resources.

The energy efficiency goal of Standard 189.1 is to provide significant energy reduction over that in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007. It offers a broader scope than Standard 90.1 and is intended to provide minimum requirements for the siting, design, and construction of high performance, green buildings.

“The far reaching influence of the built environment necessitates action to reduce its impact,” Gordon Holness, ASHRAE president, said. “Provisions in the standard can reduce negative environmental impacts through high performance building design, construction, and operations practices. Ultimately, the aim is not just energy efficiency but a balance of environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well being, and community sensitivity, all while supporting the goal of sustainable development.”

Standard 189.1 has been written by experts representing all areas of the building industry, including engineers, lighting designers, sustainability experts, building owners, designers, architects, code and compliance officials, utilities, materials experts, and equipment manufacturers. The technical requirements in the standard were also supported by input from the building industry during the public review process.

For complete information on the standard, including a readable copy, visit this link.

States must now certify that their building codes meet the requirements in ASHRAE/IESNA’s 2004 energy efficiency standard, under a ruling issued by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) that finds the standard saves more energy than an earlier version.

ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings, has been established by the DOE as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes under the federal Energy Policy Act. 

The Act requires all states to certify that they have state energy codes in place that are at least as stringent as 90.1-2004, or justify why they cannot comply. The DOE determined that Standard 90.1-2004 saves more energy than Standard 90.1- 1999, which was the previously referenced standard in the Act.

“The quantitative analysis of the energy consumption of buildings built to Standard 90.1-2004, as compared with buildings built to Standard 90.1-1999, indicates national source energy savings of approximately 13.9% of commercial building energy consumption. Site energy savings are estimated to be approximately 11.9%,” according to the ruling published in The Federal Register on Dec. 30, 2008.

“ASHRAE is committed to continually improving building energy performance, so we are pleased with this recognition that the 2004 standard saves more energy,” ASHRAE President Bill Harrison said. “ASHRAE is currently working on the 2010 version of Standard 90.1 with a goal of achieving 30% energy savings compared to 90.1-2004 as part of our target to achieve market viable net-zero energy buildings by 2015.”

“The Illuminating Engineering Society is pleased to receive the DOE’s positive determination on the site and source energy savings achieved by ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2004 compared to the 1999 standard,” said Rita Harrold, IES director of technology. She also expressed the society’s appreciation for the contributions of the committee members responsible for developing the standard, which help further the goals of the sponsoring organizations, and for the diligence of the DOE in conducting the determination.

The DOE noted that the newer version of the standard contained 13 positive impacts on energy efficiency. These impacts included changes made through the public review process in which users of the standard comment and offer guidance on proposed requirements to the standard. The positive impacts include:

• Removed explicit allowance for supply air into non-occupied isolation areas. 
• Limitations of the use of dampers in closed circuit cooling towers in place of water bypass valves and piping. 
• Additions of insulation requirements for buried ductwork. 
• Mapping of envelope requirements to new climate zones, which led to increased stringency of envelope requirements.
• Mapping of economizer requirements to new climate zones, which led to greater geographic expansion of economizer requirements.
• Addition of requirements for ventilation fan controls. 
• Lowered size range for part-load fan power limitation. 
• Addition of requirements for heat pump pool heaters. 
• Complete replacement of interior lighting power density allowances. 
• Revised exterior lighting power density allowances. 
• Addition of occupancy sensor requirements for classrooms, meeting, and lunch rooms. 
• Lower retail sales lighting power allowance. 
• New exit sign wattage requirement. 

In addition, ASHRAE is working on providing more stringent energy guidance in a proposed standard for high performance buildings. Being developed in partnership with IESNA and the U.S. Green Building Council, Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings, will provide minimum requirements for the design of high performance new commercial buildings and major renovation projects, addressing energy efficiency, a building’s impact on the atmosphere, sustainable sites, water use efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

Since being developed in response to the energy crisis in the 1970s, Standard 90.1 now influences building designs worldwide. It has become the basis for building codes and the standard for building design and construction throughout the United States. ASHRAE publishes a revised version of the standard every three years. The 2007 version of Standard 90.1 was released last year.

Changes to the purpose and scope of ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, as well as new lighting requirement, are being proposed through public review. ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of buildings except low rise residential buildings. 

Among the proposed addenda out for public review is addendum aq, which proposes changes to the purpose and scope of the standard. The proposed modification addresses applications not covered in the existing standard scope, such as requirements for laboratories, data center cooling, and kitchen exhausts. It would also permit the 90.1 committee to address technologies, such as computer equipment and refrigerated casework, and would extend existing requirements for envelope, space cooling and lighting to a larger group of spaces where energy is consumed.

“ASHRAE is committed to substantially reducing energy use in buildings,” Mark Hydeman, vice chair of the committee, said. “This addendum is a critical step toward achieving that goal. For example, it requires all cooling and heating equipment that operates under standard conditions to comply with the existing minimum efficiencies of the standard regardless of the facility that they are in. Manufacturing and process environments often operate at much longer hours than office buildings and retail facilities, which served as the basis for the life cycle cost analysis of the minimum efficiencies.”

Standard 90.1 currently addresses design and construction of buildings. The proposed addendum would add operation and maintenance, which allows incorporation of industry standards such as ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 180-2008, Standard Practice for Inspection and Maintenance of Commercial Building HVAC Systems. 

The addendum also incorporates utilization of on site, renewable energy resources. “By including on site and renewable energy resources in the scope, an appropriate mechanism was created for future requirements as well as credits for these energy resources not currently provided in the standard,” Hydeman said.

Proposed addendum aq is open for public review until Feb. 2. Four other proposed addenda—ar, as, au and av— are open for review until Jan. 19, while a fifth addenda, at, closed yesterday. 

Proposed addenda ar and av are related to lighting efficiencies. Proposed addendum ar revises an earlier version of the standard where expanded exterior lighting power limits were put in place but details were not included on calculating installed power and its comparison to the limits. Addendum av would require that in all spaces where alterations take place, all requirements of section 9 are met, not just the lighting power density requirements.

The proposed addenda to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 are available during their public review period. To read the addenda or to comment, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.