Dec. 29, 2014: Expansion of Climate Zones Proposed for ASHRAE/IES Energy Standard

Will Give the Standard More of an International View

ATLANTA — New proposed climate data could make the ASHRAE/IES energy standard more applicable for global use.

Addendum w is one of 10 proposed addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, open for public comment. Addendum w closes for review Jan. 19, 2015.

The addendum was developed in response to an update of ASHRAE Standard 169-2013, Climatic Data for Building Design Standards, which now contains updated climate data and additional Climate Zone 0 with humid (0A) and dry (0B) zones. Addendum w adds this climate zone to 90.1. This has global implications for the standard as Climate Zone 0 does not exist in the United States and is primarily used in the equatorial regions of South America, Africa, Middle East, southern Asia, and the south Pacific.

“It gives the standard more of an international view with maps and data never before available to users,” said Dru Crawley, chair of the Standard 169 committee. “Previously there was the single U.S. map. Now there are high-level (1 deg latitude/longitude) maps of the world, covering each continent and major countries.”

Other addenda open for public review until Jan. 4, 2015 are:

• v revises fenestration orientation requirements.

• y adds a new approach to simplified building lighting.

• z clarifies and modifies the modeling of a baseline HVAC system with air-source heat pumps and electric auxiliary heat.

• aa clarifies an exception in a table in the design model section.

• ad revises the preheat coil requirement for the baseline building model in Appendix G.

• ae updates a section related to definitions used with motors.

• af restores the specification of the rating conditioners for measuring efficiency of heat pump pool heaters.

• ag limits mechanical cooling for vestibules.

• ah clarifies lighting requirements.

For more information and to comment, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

Publication date: 12/22/2014