Program Highlights - February/March 2008
Welcome to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program's (BECP) bimonthly highlights. These highlights provide the latest information on our work to increase the energy efficiency of the nation's commercial and residential buildings.
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 Registration is Open for Energy Codes 2008!
Energy Codes 2008 will be held July 22-25, 2008, in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront. This annual training event, provided by BECP, offers hands-on training and face-to-face networking with the energy codes community. Register now!
Working with ASHRAE — DOE's 30% Codes Initiative
DOE's 30% Codes Initiative is focused on helping the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) achieve 30% energy savings as compared to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA¹. Standard 90.1-2004 by 2010. Working toward this goal, BECP is addressing the three critical elements of building energy use: lighting as well as mechanical and envelope.
Lighting — BECP staff are continuing to work with a subcontractor to develop additional daylighting control proposals. Staff are also providing selected space-type illumination modeling to assess the effectiveness of current lighting power calculation methods. In addition, BECP staff are developing methods to reliably quantify lighting cost data and lighting control use in support of proposal analysis.
Mechanical and Envelope — BECP is developing prototype buildings for use in a variety of analyses for ASHRAE. BECP is focusing on five key prototype buildings requested by ASHRAE (medium office, mid-rise apartment, warehouse, large office, and hospital) in preparation for the ASHRAE annual meeting, June 2008, in Salt Lake City. These prototype buildings are based on prototypes developed as part of the ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guides and DOE Benchmark buildings.
Achieving Greater Efficiency in Residential Codes
BECP is working with the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition, the Advanced Building Coalition, and other key stakeholders to plan strategies to support code change proposals that result in efficiency improvements at the International Code Council® (ICC) hearings in September 2008. As part of this effort, BECP staff are quantifying the percent savings associated with code change proposals under consideration by the ICC.
Read the Latest Setting the Standard
BECP's latest issue of Setting the Standard, released to more than 90,000 subscribers in March 2008, features information about our work with ASHRAE to achieve energy efficiency, details about ICC code change proposals, frequently asked residential and commercial questions and answers, and more.
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Updates to the IECC®
Many impactful proposals were approved at the ICC hearings in Palm Springs, California, February 2008. The changes to the code for residential buildings were particularly significant. These changes represent approximately a 15 to 20% improvement over the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC) and include a DOE proposal to mandate pressure testing of ducts. If the duct pressure testing proposal is upheld at a second and final hearing in September 2008, it may represent the largest single efficiency improvement in the history of the IECC.
There was also a number of approved proposals to the commercial building category of the IECC, including proposals to:
- Require code users to use either ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or the IECC in its entirety.
- Require cool roofs in climate zones 1-3.
- Add new chiller efficiency requirements.
- Add more detailed HVAC commissioning requirements.
- Add new HVAC controls for minor systems.
- Provide high-efficiency lighting in high-rise residential spaces.
- Revise the additional lighting power allowances for retail display space.
For more information, see the ICC's full report on the code development hearings. Public comments on the hearing results are due June 9, 2008. Final action hearings will be held September 17-23, 2008, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Software Updates in February/March
COMcheck™ 3.5.3 offers several state code modifications; the most extensive changes are for Georgia.
COMcheck-Web™ now supports the 2006 IECC, the use of building areas as spaces for lighting components, and the updated Georgia code.
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Technical Assistance to Users
Got code questions? We've got code answers. In February and March we received and responded to 679 Technical Support inquiries from the energy codes community. Email your questions to BECP Technical Support at techsupport@becp.pnl.gov, or submit an inquiry online.
Technical Assistance to States
Georgia
Changes were made to COMcheck 3.5.3 and COMcheck-Web to support the Georgia state-specific code. Support to the Georgia code is being implemented in REScheck as well; the new version will be available soon.
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Visit Our Website
BECP's website has a wealth of resources for the energy codes community. Visit www.energycodes.gov for training, software, news, and more! Website hits totaled 3,520,127 in February and 4,075,322 in March.
Catch us at a Conference
BECP staff will attend the ASHRAE annual meeting, June 21-25, 2008, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
BECP staff will attend the ICC Final Action Hearings, September 17-23, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Watch a Webcast
BECP's three-part series about ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 offers lighting, mechanical, and envelope overviews about the new code. The live broadcasts were attended by nearly 4,800 members of the energy codes community. Watch the recorded webcasts to earn continuing education credits and American Institute of Architects/Continuing Education System Learning Units.
Calendar of Events
Advertise to the Building Energy Codes Community! BECP invites website visitors to add a training or event for the building energy codes community on their Calendar of Events — A community source for buildings-related conferences and workshops as well as national energy code training and state energy code training conducted across the nations.
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Program Highlights Archives
¹The American National Standards Institute/ASHRAE/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
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