Proposed changes regarding lighting and climate zones to energy standards published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) are open for public discussion.
Until Friday, October 4, the public is open to comment on 23 addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-rise Residential Buildings. Among the open addenda is addendum ch, which proposes a new set of interior lighting power densities (LPD) limits for both building area and space by space compliance paths.
The new LDP limits come from inclusion of LED technology into the space type models that are used to determine appropriate LPD limits for compliance with the standard. They are calculated using IES formulas that relate lighting energy use to lighting quantity-based on the application of appropriate lighting technologies into individual space models. The models incorporate efficient cost-effective lighting technology, appropriate light loss factors, and current design practice.
“These proposed changes have been under consideration within the 90.1 lighting subcommittee for several years,” said Eric Richman, chair of the standard’s lighting subcommittee. “Inclusion of LEDs were seriously considered for the 2013 version of the standard. However, at the time the changes needed to be processed, the cost of LEDs was still relatively high and the variety and depth of available products was not deemed sufficient to incorporate into a mandatory code. We understand LED technology continues to improve and become even more cost-effective such that by the time these new requirements are required for building projects, their effectiveness and viability on code compliance will be even easier.”
Also open for public comment is addendum br, which was developed in response to the publication of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 169-2013, Climate Data for Building Design Standards. It includes more recent data (resulting in changes in climate zone assignments for some locations, including approximately 10 percent of the 3000 counties in the United States) and the creation of a new Climate Zone 0. The proposed addendum adds requirements for mechanical provisions.
Climate Zone 0 is the hotter portion of the previous Climate Zone 1, which was the warmest climate zone. Cities within the new zone include Mumbai, Jakarta, and Abu Dhabi. There are no U.S. cities; however, Miami and Hawaii fall under Zone 1. The separation of the two zones allows separate criteria for Standard 90.1 to be developed that are more specific to the hotter regions of Zone 0.
For a list of all the addendums open for comment, click here.
