***ASHRAE/IES Publish 2016 Energy Efficiency Standard*
ATLANTA ? Numerous energy savings measures resulting from
industry input are contained in the newly published energy
efficiency standard from ASHRAE and IES.
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2016, /Energy Efficiency
Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential
Buildings/, contains 125 addenda published since the 2013
standard. The 2013 standard currently serves as the
commercial building reference standard for state building
energy codes.
This 2016 version is the 10^th edition published since the
original standard was first published in 1975 during the
energy crisis of the United States.
"It is the overall goal of each version to create a
consensus standard that saves energy and is technically
feasible and cost effective,? Drake Erbe, chair of the
Standard 90.1 committee, said. ?In addition, as a result of
a strategic initiative begun in the 2013 cycle, the 2016
version has a new format that we believe will be easier for
users, a new way of incorporation of reference material from
other standards starting with climate data, and a
performance path for compliance that rewards designs for
achieving energy cost levels above the standard minimum.?
*Formatting*
The standard has made significant formatting changes to
improve its use. These include a one-column format for
easier reading; exceptions separated and indented, set apart
with a smaller font size; all defined terms are italicized;
and alternating coloring scheme for table rows.
The most significant technical changes included are as follows:
* *Building Envelope*:
o The mandatory provisions include the addition of
envelope verification in support of reduced air
infiltration and increased requirements for air
leakage to overhead coiling doors.
o The prescriptive requirements include increased
stringency requirements for metal building roofs and
walls, fenestration, and opaque doors. Requirements
for Climate Zone 0 have been added.
o Improved clarity of the standard ranged from
defining exterior walls to building orientation to
clarity around the effective R-value of air spaces
* *Lighting:*
o Modified control requirements that make the
application of advanced lighting controls easier for
increased energy savings
o Modification of exterior and interior lighting power
densities that reflect the efficiency gains from LED
technology in specific applications where they are
proven to be effective
o Added minimum requirements for lighting in dwelling
units to set limits on light source efficacy
o Added additional control for lighting in parking
areas based on occupancy to reduce energy use
* *Mechanical:*
o Chilled water plant metering ? For the first time,
the standard is requiring large electric driven
chilled water plants to be monitored for electric
energy use and efficiency.
o DOAS requirements ? Dedicated outdoor air systems
were introduced over 25 years ago but there were no
rating or efficiency requirements with which to
comply. For the first time, this product class does
have both efficiency and rating requirements with
which they have to comply.
o Elevator efficiency ?Introduces requirements for
designs to include both usage category and
efficiency class. While a minimum threshold is not
listed, it is the first step toward including
minimum elevator efficiency requirement in a future
standard. The standard referenced is an ISO
standard since this the current industry standard
for efficiency.
o Economizer diagnostics ? The standard is
implementing requirements that air cooled DX cooling
unit with economizers have a monitoring system to
determine that the air economizer is properly working.
* *Energy Cost Budget (ECB) and Modeling.*A significant
change to the application of Appendix G as follows:
oAppendix G now can be used as a path for compliance with
the standard. Previously Appendix G was used only to rate
?beyond code? performance of buildings. This new version of
Appendix G can show compliance with the 2016 version of the
standard in the following manner:
o The proposed building design requires a new metric the
Performance Cost Index (PCI) and demonstration that it is
less than that shown in Table 4.2.1.1 based on building type
and climate zone.
oAnother change is that the baseline design is now fixed at
a certain level of performance, the stringency or baseline
of which is expected not to change with subsequent versions
of the standard. By this, a building of any era can be rated
using the same method.
oOther modifications to Appendix G include: elevator, motor,
and refrigeration baselines; changes to the baseline for
existing building projects; as well as specific opaque
assemblies for the baseline envelope model. Modeling rule
changes were also made to heat pump auxiliary heat,
economizer shutoff, lighting controls, humidification
systems, cooling towers, and the simulation of preheat coils.
Additional *structural changes* include:
o Reference Standard Reproduction Annex 1 at the end of the
document. This annex is designed to contain extracts from
other references that are published with Standard 90.1 for
the convenience of users. At present, the only standard this
pertains to is ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 169, /Climatic Data for
Building Design Standards/. Section 5.1.4 now cites this
standard as the source for climatic data therefore
extractions of tables and figures from Standard 169-2013 are
included in Annex 1
o Addition of 2 weather zones 0 A/B in all prescriptive
requirements tables to correspond with Standard 169.
The cost of is $119, ASHRAE members ($140, non-members). To
order, visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore
Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada)
or 404-636-8400 (worldwide) or fax 678-539-2129.
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a global society advancing human
well-being through sustainable technology for the built
environment. The Society and its more than 56,000 members
worldwide focus on building systems, energy efficiency,
indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability.
Through research, standards writing, publishing,
certification and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes
tomorrow?s built environment today. More information can be
found at www.ashrae.org/news
