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ENERGY CODE UPDATE—SEPTEMBER SEMINAR

On Friday, 23 September, the Chapter hosted an all day Seminar to highlight the changes to the NYS Energy Conservation Code.  Our instructor was Shirley Muns, a Certified Building Official from Texas.  Her presentation consisted of over 250 PowerPoint slides, with a clear explanation of the scoping for building types, and the requirements for administration of the Code.  She explained that the primary intent of the code update is that buildings be treated as systems.

The scope categories for new construction are Residential:  one and two family dwellings, R-2, R-3, R-4 townhouses and low-rise multifamily dwellings of three stories or less.  Everything else falls into Commercial.  There are seven other scoping subsections, including Existing Buildings, Historic Buildings, Additions, and Mixed Occupancies, among others.

There are new requirements for all insulation systems to have clear labels; such as fenestration label on windows, test data for exterior doors, labels on all insulation, including a sprayed-on or stamped R-value on even unfaced insulation.  Ms. Muns stated that in Texas, which already has some of the stringent requirements of the new Code update, she has insisted on seeing the certificates on pain of rejecting already built construction.

The climate zones in the State have been reduced to three:  we have climate zones 4, 5, and 6.  This will simplify matters somewhat so new values do not have to be researched for every project.

There will be new rules for glazing in houses based on the floor area of the house, not the composite area of the façade.

There will be a requirement for every residential project that a permanent certificate be posted in every house near the electrical panel that states R-values for ceiling/roofs, walls, foundation/slab/crawlspace, and for ducts located outside the building envelope.

There will be prescriptive requirements for every system for R-values, but a building can be exempted from these requirements if compliance can be demonstrated by D.O.E. software such a ComCheck or ResCheck,  or other approved software.

The day’s slides included many examples of poorly installed systems of insulation, ductwork, and recessed lighting fixtures.  For this writer, the examples were great to see.  Often on small residential projects where there is no consulting engineer, the architect does not always know the best installation technique, and may accept work that should be rejected for poor craftsmanship. 

The part of the day spent on HVAC systems illuminated to this writer some of the things that our mechanical consultants must be made aware of.  For residential projects where we sometimes only write a performance spec, the new requirement is for any contractor (if you don’t use an engineer for the design) to provide his sizing calculations using the ACAA Manual J, ASHRAE, or other approved software.  Ms. Muns explained the problem with a contractor’s normal oversizing of an AC system:  the more powerful system will cool a house more quickly, leading to very short cycle times for the condenser and air handler.  Due to the short cycle time the de-humidification aspect of the system is never activated, so the air is never dehumidified.  The system must run at least 20 minutes for dehumidification to take place.  The oversized system costs more, due to oversized ducts and the more expensive equipment.

One of the electrical equipment changes to the Code will be a requirement for more switches so lighting can be controlled more efficiently, as in tandem wiring.  An exception to the expanse of tandem wiring will be if the designer specifies high-frequency electronic ballasts.  There will also be bonuses for designers specifying LED luminaries.

In all, the material was well presented, and the handout included all of the PowerPoint slides of the day, so note taking was eased.

Ted D’Amore

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