The First Facility Management Blog

Proposed Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is now open for its second public review. Upon approval, the standard will essentially define high performance buildings in code-intended language.

Proposed Standard 189.1 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. It is being developed by ASHRAE, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

“This standard is an energy saving stepping stone toward ASHRAE’s goal of net-zero-energy buildings,” says John Hogan, chair of the committee that wrote the standard. “This is a goal that IESNA and the USGBC support as well as partners in this standard’s development. It also gives building owners or jurisdictions that voluntarily choose to adopt the standard a tool for constructing truly high-performing buildings that provide energy-efficient, safe and comfortable environments for occupants.”

By applying the minimum set of prescriptive recommendations, Standard 189.1P leads to site energy savings ranging from 10% to 41% over Standard 90.1-2007, including plug and process loads and all other energy consumption for the building, with an average of 24.9% for all climates.

The proposed standard also provides indoor water savings of 35% for an office building and 26% for a multifamily building.

The indoor air quality criteria have been coordinated with ASHRAE’s IAQ Design Guide (under development), and the commissioning criteria have been more closely aligned with ASHRAE’s commissioning guidelines.

This second public review began February 22, 2008 and ends April 7, 2008. (The first public review of the Standard generated 900 comments.)

Proposed ASHRAE standards, guidelines and addenda to standards are available only during public review periods. To read the draft standard or to comment, interested parties should visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

The proposed new standard from ASHRAE, IESNA, and USGBC aims to provide a baseline for sustainable design, construction, and operations.

Comments will be accepted through July 9, 2007 at www.ashrae.org/publicreviews. The standard is being developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Standard 189P (Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings) has been proposed in order to drive green building into mainstream building practices. It will apply to new commercial buildings and major renovation projects and will address key areas of performance including energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable site selection, water usage, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

“Standard 189P will become the benchmark for all sustainable green buildings in the United States because it is being developed for inclusion into building codes,” said committee chair John Hogan, chair of the Standard 189P Project Committee. “This means that owners and designers will have a consensus-based document that will set the minimum criteria that a building must satisfy in order to be considered a green building. The real impact of Standard 189P is that ASHRAE, along with IESNA and USGBC, is taking advanced energy conservation guidance mainstream for the general public’s benefit.”

Hogan also noted that the standard is not a building rating system per se, but rather a compilation of criteria that must be met in order for local building code officials to provide a Certificate of Occupancy for a facility.

Standard 189P is being developed using USGBC’s LEED® Green Building Rating System™, which addresses the top 25% of building practice, as a key resource. Upon completion, Standard 189 will be an ANSI-accredited standard that can be incorporated into building code. It is intended that the standard will eventually become a prerequisite for LEED certification.

Proposed Standard 189P will be available only during public review periods. Visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

About ASHRAE
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.

About IESNA
IESNA is the recognized technical authority on illumination. For over 100 years, its objective has been to communicate information on all aspects of good lighting practice to its members, to the lighting community, and to consumers, through a variety of programs, publications, and services.

About USGBC
USGBC is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. USGBC’s membership includes more than 9,000 corporations, federal agencies, state and local governments, and nonprofits; and encompasses 65 local chapters and affiliates nationwide.

The committee established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC); the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) to develop a new green building standard announced the developments of its most recent meeting. The three organizations are collaborating to develop Standard 189, a baseline green building standard that will bring green building practices into mainstream building design and construction. The standard is being written so that it may be incorporated into local building codes in the future.

Standard 189, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will provide minimum requirements for the design of sustainable buildings to balance environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well-being, and community sensitivity. Using USGBC’s LEED® Green Building Rating System, which addresses the top 25% of building practice, as a key resource, Standard 189 will provide a baseline to drive green building into mainstream practice. Standard 189 will be ANSI-accredited, and it is intended to become a prerequisite for LEED certification. LEED will continue to serve market leaders and innovators by promoting the highest levels of building performance.

A major development resulting from the January 29 meeting in Dallas, TX is the coordination of Standard 189 with national green building activities, including U.S. Federal agencies’ “Memorandum of Understanding on Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings”; AIA (American Institute of Architects); climate change initiatives by the U.S. Conference of Mayors; and Architecture 2030. The committee also created an outline for Standard 189 and detailed the standard’s scope, which will include sustainable sites; water use; energy efficiency; impact on the atmosphere; materials and resources; and indoor environmental quality. Compliance with mandatory provisions and either prescriptive or performance provisions was also decided on at the meeting. Standard 189 is anticipated to begin pilot testing in late 2007.