ATLANTA — A newly published version of the high performance green building standard from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) focuses on making buildings and systems more sustainable.

ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides a green building foundation for those who strive to design, build, and operate high-performance buildings. The publication covers key topic areas of site sustainability, water-use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials, and resources.

“Since Standard 189.1 was first published, we have received much input from the industry offering suggestions on how to strengthen it in all areas,” said Dennis Stanke, standards committee chairman. “This 2011 version incorporates much of that input. More importantly, the 2011 version incorporates updated connections to its referenced standards — primarily ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1-2010 and ANSI/ASHRAE 62.1-2010. Compliance with these updated provisions will result in further improvements to indoor environmental quality, while further reducing energy use and environmental impact through high-performance building design, construction, and operation.”

The most significant change in energy-related provisions results from new requirements in ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, adding to, and superseding, requirements in the 2007 version. In October 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) found that the 2010 version of Standard 90.1 contained significant energy savings over the 2007 standard. The energy savings in the Standard 90.1-2010 provisions also resulted in energy savings for building projects complying with Standard 189.1, according to Stanke.

In addition, mandatory and prescriptive renewable energy requirements were clarified to reduce confusion and simplify calculations; now both mandatory provisions to prepare for on-site renewable energy and provisions to produce prescribed levels of renewable energy must be met. Additionally, buildings that meet the prescriptive requirement for renewable energy production are now deemed to comply with the mandatory requirement for renewable energy site preparation.

Publication date: 3/12/2012