The ASHRAE/IES energy standard would have multiple compliance options to ensure verification of delivered building envelope performance under a new proposal.
“Uncontrolled air leakage has long been an unquantified variable in load calculations for buildings large and small,” ASHRAE said in a news release. “It has also been identified as the ‘weak link’ in many otherwise well insulated building enclosures.” Proposed envelope testing, inspection and verification procedures are intended to help deliver better performing building envelopes, and help to reduce errors associated with envelope air leakage in equipment sizing calculations.
This proposal, Addendum l, is one of 14 proposed addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, now open for public comment. To comment, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
The proposal provides for multiple compliance methods including whole building air leakage testing, continuous air barrier inspection, and performance verification procedures. The proposed changes would likely have an impact on first costs, but the long-term savings are expected to more than justify these costs. The costs of the verification procedures will go down over time as builders become more familiar with envelope performance testing, inspection and other verification techniques and their construction practices improve due to the important feedback they will provide, ASHRAE says.
Related Stories
| Nov 29, 2012
New York contractors say they will pay tax despite a court ruling that the tax is unconstitutional
The New York Building Congress says it will voluntarily pay a tax declared unconstitutional by the courts because, it says, the money is vital to maintaining the city’s transportation infrastructure.
| Nov 29, 2012
Storms like Sandy highlight the need for stricter codes, says insurance expert
Experts on insurance, weather, and catastrophe modeling say the role of climate change in Hurricane Sandy and future storms is unclear.
| Nov 29, 2012
Quake simulation to test concrete building's strength in California
Researchers aim to gauge how buildings constructed with reinforced concrete withstand an earthquake by conducting a simulation test at a two-story building built in the 1920s in El Centro, Calif.
| Nov 29, 2012
AGC offers stormwater compliance webinar
An effective document management system is necessary to stay in compliance with new and forthcoming stormwater runoff requirements, says the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Nov 29, 2012
Government policies help accelerate adoption of green building
Green procurement policies or green building mandates can help accelerate the adoption of green building practices, according to research by Timothy Simcoe and Michael Toffel.
| Nov 26, 2012
Minnesota law to spur development, job creation produced few jobs
Legislation that allowed local governments to direct excess property tax dollars from tax-increment financing districts into other private developments was supposed to kick-start construction hiring in Minnesota.
| Nov 26, 2012
How to boost resilient systems that are sustainable
Cities of the future can be both more resilient and more sustainable by promoting strategies that include solar power and green roofs, programs that minimize demand for energy, rain gardens, and permeable pavement.
| Nov 26, 2012
Developer of nation’s first LEED platinum skyscraper focuses on carbon reduction
The Durst Organization, the developer of the first LEED platinum certified skyscraper in the country, says it will not seek LEED certification for its residential pyramid planned for New York’s West 57th Street.
| Nov 26, 2012
Questions linger over ability of Miami's newer high-rises to withstand hurricanes
Some towers in Miami, rebuilt after a hurricane in 2005, were allowed to be constructed under older building codes instead of newer ones created after Hurricane Wilma.
| Nov 26, 2012
Changes in development and building standards needed for health of Potomac River
The Potomac River’s health stands to suffer if the region does not change its development and building standards, according to the Potomac Conservancy.
