DOE Starts Approval Process for Energy Standard
A preliminary analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy found that ASHRAE/IES’s 2013 energy efficiency standard contains energy savings over the 2010 standard of approximately 8 percent.
This is the first step by the DOE in issuing a ruling that could establish the 2013 standard as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes.
In an announcement in the Federal Register, DOE attributes the greater energy savings to improvements in ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, related to better lighting, fans, commercial refrigeration, boilers and controls.
The DOE is now receiving comments on the preliminary determination. More information can be found at http://www.energycodes.gov/regulations/determinations.
If the preliminary determination is finalized, then states would be required to update their codes to meet or exceed the 2013 standard.
Currently, states must meet or exceed the 2010 standard, which serves as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes under the federal Energy Conservation and Production Act.
The DOE noted that the 2013 standard contains 52 positive impacts on energy efficiency that were incorporated into the analysis. These impacts included changes made through the public review process in which users of the standard comment and offer guidance on proposed requirements. Specifically the major impacts include:
- Control requirements for lighting alternations
- New requirements for individual fans
- Reduction of energy usage for large boilers
- Reduction of fan energy usage
- New efficiency requirements for commercial refrigeration
- More controls in more spaces and reduction of time to reduction or shut off of those controls
- Reduction of lighting power density in most building types
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