ATLANTA - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has announced a new User’s Manual to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The standard, which provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings, contains 109 addenda approved since the 2007 standard was published.

“The new User’s Manual is a very useful resource because it helps guide practitioners in by explaining the intent of provisions in the standard and how they apply to buildings through not only written word but also illustrations and example problems,” said Steve Skalko, chair of the Standard 90.1 committee. “The latest edition of the manual is especially valuable because it specifically identifies what changes have taken place since the 2007 edition and through use of calculations and examples tells how the new provisions apply.”

Some examples of how the User’s Manual helps users in regard to the 2010 standard include:

• Application of new requirements in the standard regarding data centers.

• Application of new requirements for building envelopes including vestibules, continuous air barriers, skylights, daylighting controls, and the use of dynamic glazing.

• Explanation of how to apply new HVAC requirements, including higher equipment efficiencies, energy recovery provisions in more applications, economizers required in more climates and smaller system sizes and more energy-conserving controls.

• Changes to modeling requirements - e.g., for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification - that were clarified and expanded.

Since being developed in response to the energy crisis in the 1970s, ASHRAE said Standard 90.1 has become the basis for building codes, and the standard for building design and construction throughout the United States.

The cost of the 90.1-2010 User’s Manual is $99 ($84, members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide) or visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore.

Publication date:03/07/2011