Codes & Standards

Oct. 1, 2007
ASHRAE The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently announced that 14 proposed addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA

ASHRAE

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently announced that 14 proposed addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, are open for public comment.

Open for public comment until Oct. 14 are:

  • Addendum h, which addresses any conflict with ASHRAE Standard 55-2004, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, and takes advantage of the energy-saving potential of direct digital controls.

  • Addendum j, which updates mechanical test procedures and references.

  • Addendum n, which extends variable-air-volume-fan requirements for large single-zone units, effective in 2012.

  • Addendum q, which modifies vestibule requirements for Climate Zone 4.

Open for public comment until Oct. 29 are:

  • Addendum d, which modifies requirements in both the lighting and envelope sections to better allow daylighting.

  • Addendum f, which expands roof requirements to include cool roofs.

  • Addendum g, which updates metal-building-envelope criteria.

  • Addendum i, which applies a four-zone lighting-power-density approach to exterior-lighting requirements.

  • Addendum k, which revises tables 6.8.1E and 7.8 to identify specific sections of referenced standards, reflects federal residential-water-heater efficiency levels, and adds a requirement for electric tabletop water heaters.

  • Addendum l, which adds minimum efficiency and certification requirements for both axial- and centrifugal-fan closed-circuit cooling towers and adds a reference to the Cooling Technology Institute test standard for closed-circuit cooling towers.

  • Addendum m, which establishes, effective Jan. 1, 2010, an additional path of compliance for water-cooled chillers.

  • Addendum o, which adds requirements for low-voltage dry-type transformers.

  • Addendum p, which provides pressure credits for laboratory exhaust systems.

  • Addendum r, which changes the performance-rating method in Appendix G from informative to normative, or required.

To read and comment on any of the addenda above, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews during the public-comment periods.

In other news, ASHRAE recently announced the publication of:

  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34-2007, Designation and Safety Classification of Refrigerants, which contains 16 new refrigerants, a revised flammability classification, revised flammability- and fractionation-testing procedures, and a new section with recommended refrigerant-concentration limits.

  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2007, Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems, which expands requirements for internal relief devices and includes an updated Appendix F, which covers relief-device selection for positive-displacement compressors.

  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, which includes requirements for the separation of smoking areas from no-smoking ones and provides a specific, easy-to-establish load condition for the analysis of a mechanical cooling system's ability to limit space relative humidity. Additionally, minimum outdoor-air requirements for residences in buildings more than three stories tall and several occupancy categories were added to Table 6-1.

  • ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 183-2007, Peak Cooling and Heating Load Calculations in Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.

To order any of the published standards above, call 800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400, or visit the bookstore at www.ashrae.org.

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Scott Arnold | Executive Editor

Described by a colleague as "a cyborg ... requir(ing) virtually no sleep, no time off, and bland nourishment that can be consumed while at his desk" who was sent "back from the future not to terminate anyone, but with the prime directive 'to edit dry technical copy' in order to save the world at a later date," Scott Arnold joined the editorial staff of HPAC Engineering in 1999. Prior to that, he worked as an editor for daily newspapers and a specialty-publications company. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State University.