"It is the governmental use of building codes and the conversion of standards into codes that derive the greatest benefit from the ASHRAE standards’ development process," Terry Townsend, ASHRAE president, said at a meeting with ICC leadership to encourage adoption of the proposals.
A proposal to include new ventilation rates from ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, was approved for inclusion in the International Mechanical Code (IMC). The change would lower zone ventilation in many zones, particularly those with high-occupant density, and improve overall ventilation results in systems where zones with differing ventilation requirements are served by a common ventilation system.
For high occupant-density zones such as classrooms and places of worship the new rates reduce outdoor air intake requirements by 50 percent or more, compared to the IMC, according to Dennis Stanke, chair of the Standard 62.1.
Four proposals written by ASHRAE’s Code Development Committee for ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 90.2-2004, Energy-Efficient Design of Low-Rise Residential Buildings, were approved for inclusion in the International Energy Conservation Code.
Proposal EC39: Lowers the solar heat gain coefficient requirements in residential buildings in Climate Zones 1 and 2 to 0.37 from 0.40. This requirement is consistent with Standard 90.2-2004. Proposal EC84: Adds a U-factor table to the code, and add definitions for C-Factors, and F-Factors. Proposal EC98: Adds a requirement for hot-gas-bypass to the code. Proposal EC125: Revises exterior lighting control requirements.
After the ICC conducts a public review of ASHRAE's proposals, final hearings for the code change proposals are expected to take place May 21 and 22, 2007. If the proposals are accepted, they would be included in the 2007 code supplement.
Also related to its energy standard, ASHRAE plans to submit a public comment on a proposal to provide R-Value, U-Factor requirements and removal of the Standard 90.1 envelope section as a compliance method. ASHRAE opposes approval of proposal EC82 because it removes a partial reference to Standard 90.1.
"While ASHRAE thinks the UA trade-off may be desirable, the envelope requirements and appendices of the standard should continue to be an alternative compliance pathway because they are technically based within a consensus process," Townsend says.
Also approved was a proposal to make the IMC more consistent with ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34-2004, Designation and Safety Classification of Refrigerants. The change would add new refrigerants for which the standard has given a designation and safety classification. The addition will facilitate use of these refrigerants.
