ASHRAE STANDARD 189.1 -- IT'S NOW REALITY!
At the Winter ASHRAE Meeting, held this past January, the first Green Standard for the design of High-Performance Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings was approved. Readers of my blog may remember that I wrote on this Standard early in 2009, when it was still in the development and review phase.
What sets this apart from rating systems, such as LEED, is that it is a code-intended standard. This means that it can be used as the basis for municipal codes, as it is ANSI sanctioned. Thus, unlike the LEED rating system, which is a voluntary rating system, this can be incorporated into mandatory building codes in the same manner as ASHRAE Standard 90.1 has been with energy codes throughout the USA. This is due to the fact that it includes mandatory and prescriptive performance criteria
ASHRAE Standard 189.1 covers ALL areas of sustainable building design and operations, and in many areas, mirrors the LEED rating system. This is what sets this apart from any other ASHRAE Standard, which up until now have covered only issues related to energy use, heating, cooling, ventilation and refrigeration operations and safety issues. Thus, ASHRAE has now introduced a Standard that covers such areas as sustainable sites (land use) water efficiency, light pollution issues, the building's impact on the atmosphere as well as indoor environmental quality. Thus, a design team will need to take into account the building's source contaminant and emissions.
This Standard was a four year effort that involved not just teams from ASHRAE, but USGBC and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), as well as the public. Three review period were conducted during this effort, and over 2500 comments were received.
One item in which this Standard differs from the past, is that for the first time, future provisions for on-site renewable energy will be required, unless the building is located in a poor incident solar radiation area. Another exemption is granted for a period of up to ten years, if 70 kWh / Square-foot of green power is purchased. The prescriptive requirement here will be 6 kBtu / square-foot. If one chooses to use the performance path, increased energy efficiency can substitute for renewable energy.
Standard 189.1 is NOT intended to replace Standard 90.1; rather it is meant to build on this standard, which is the current basis of all energy codes in use in the USA today.
Standard 189.1 will result in a solid increase in energy savings. These will vary from region to region, but on the average, the savings will be 30% over that of Standard 90.1.
Standard 189.1 is intended to blend with and compliment the LEED rating system and Energy Star; in fact it was these systems that served as the basis for this Standard. As said above, we now have a ANSI model code language that can be incorporated into new green building codes. It is intended to compliment green rating systems, not to compete or eliminate them, but rather to set a new level of mandatory minimum standard that a building must meet in terms of sustainability. At the present, efforts are underway to educate model code organizations, as they are looking for guidance in just how to incorporate green standards into their codes at all levels.
While the emphasis of this entry has focused on mandatory codes, Standard 189.1 can also serve as a reference for jurisdictions seeking to provide a guidance reference for green designations or voluntary programs in place of actual mandatory requirements. Also, a jurisdiction may choose to modify or regionalize the requirements. However, if a jurisdiction wants to adapt a provision that is more stringent than the requirements found in the Federal Register, they must first request a waiver from the U. S. Department of Energy. This issue of Federal Preemption was a contentious issue during the review process. The creation of various paths to compliance dealt with these issues.
As noted above, we now see exterior lighting included in Standard 189.1. The main aim here is to deal with issues of back-lighting, up-lighting and glare. Again, we saw much contention with these provisions.
Standard 198.1 will be under continuous review; it will be altered as needs arise at any time. In addition, daylight provisions will be reviewed to ensure that they mesh with Standard 90.1. A user's manual will be published sometime this summer. For further information, refer to: www.ashrae.org/greenstandard
What sets this apart from rating systems, such as LEED, is that it is a code-intended standard. This means that it can be used as the basis for municipal codes, as it is ANSI sanctioned. Thus, unlike the LEED rating system, which is a voluntary rating system, this can be incorporated into mandatory building codes in the same manner as ASHRAE Standard 90.1 has been with energy codes throughout the USA. This is due to the fact that it includes mandatory and prescriptive performance criteria
ASHRAE Standard 189.1 covers ALL areas of sustainable building design and operations, and in many areas, mirrors the LEED rating system. This is what sets this apart from any other ASHRAE Standard, which up until now have covered only issues related to energy use, heating, cooling, ventilation and refrigeration operations and safety issues. Thus, ASHRAE has now introduced a Standard that covers such areas as sustainable sites (land use) water efficiency, light pollution issues, the building's impact on the atmosphere as well as indoor environmental quality. Thus, a design team will need to take into account the building's source contaminant and emissions.
This Standard was a four year effort that involved not just teams from ASHRAE, but USGBC and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), as well as the public. Three review period were conducted during this effort, and over 2500 comments were received.
One item in which this Standard differs from the past, is that for the first time, future provisions for on-site renewable energy will be required, unless the building is located in a poor incident solar radiation area. Another exemption is granted for a period of up to ten years, if 70 kWh / Square-foot of green power is purchased. The prescriptive requirement here will be 6 kBtu / square-foot. If one chooses to use the performance path, increased energy efficiency can substitute for renewable energy.
Standard 189.1 is NOT intended to replace Standard 90.1; rather it is meant to build on this standard, which is the current basis of all energy codes in use in the USA today.
Standard 189.1 will result in a solid increase in energy savings. These will vary from region to region, but on the average, the savings will be 30% over that of Standard 90.1.
Standard 189.1 is intended to blend with and compliment the LEED rating system and Energy Star; in fact it was these systems that served as the basis for this Standard. As said above, we now have a ANSI model code language that can be incorporated into new green building codes. It is intended to compliment green rating systems, not to compete or eliminate them, but rather to set a new level of mandatory minimum standard that a building must meet in terms of sustainability. At the present, efforts are underway to educate model code organizations, as they are looking for guidance in just how to incorporate green standards into their codes at all levels.
While the emphasis of this entry has focused on mandatory codes, Standard 189.1 can also serve as a reference for jurisdictions seeking to provide a guidance reference for green designations or voluntary programs in place of actual mandatory requirements. Also, a jurisdiction may choose to modify or regionalize the requirements. However, if a jurisdiction wants to adapt a provision that is more stringent than the requirements found in the Federal Register, they must first request a waiver from the U. S. Department of Energy. This issue of Federal Preemption was a contentious issue during the review process. The creation of various paths to compliance dealt with these issues.
As noted above, we now see exterior lighting included in Standard 189.1. The main aim here is to deal with issues of back-lighting, up-lighting and glare. Again, we saw much contention with these provisions.
Standard 198.1 will be under continuous review; it will be altered as needs arise at any time. In addition, daylight provisions will be reviewed to ensure that they mesh with Standard 90.1. A user's manual will be published sometime this summer. For further information, refer to: www.ashrae.org/greenstandard
Posted by Alan L. Englander at 4/16/2010 12:01 AM 
Categories: USGBC, High Performance buildings, Exterior lighting. Back-lighting, Mandatory and Prescriptive Performance Criteria, Green Building Standards, Basis for Municipal Green Building Codes, On-site Renewable Energy, Up-lighting, ANSI, Light Pollution
Categories: USGBC, High Performance buildings, Exterior lighting. Back-lighting, Mandatory and Prescriptive Performance Criteria, Green Building Standards, Basis for Municipal Green Building Codes, On-site Renewable Energy, Up-lighting, ANSI, Light Pollution
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