ASHRAE Proposes Sustainable Buildings Standard - ASHRAE 189

June 20, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

The standard is being developed in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is said to be the first such green building standard proposed in the U.S.

ASHRAE/IESNA/USGBC Standard 189 will be applicable to new commercial buildings and major renovation projects and will address:

• Energy efficiency.
• A building's impact on the atmosphere.
• Sustainable sites.
• Water use efficiency.
• Materials and resources.
• Indoor environmental quality.

ASHRAE/IESNA/USGBC Standard 189 is being developed for inclusion into building codes, according to ASHRAE President Terry Townsend.

"This means that owners and designers will have a consensus-based document that will set the minimum criteria that a building must satisfy in order to be considered a green building," Townsend said.

According to John Hogan, chair of the ASHRAE/IESNA/USGBC Standard 189 project committee, the standard is not a building rating system, but rather a compilation of criteria that must be met in order for local building code officials to provide a certificate of occupancy for a facility.

Energy efficiency will be a large part of the standard, with a goal of achieving a minimum of 30% reduction in energy cost (and carbon dioxide equivalent) over that in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-2007 - Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, which provides minimum energy efficiency design requirements for buildings except low-rise residential buildings and is the basis for building codes worldwide.

Proposed standard ASHRAE/IESNA/USGBC 189 will focus on renewable power generation on-site instead of high-performance, green buildings relying completely on conventional energy sources. The committee that wrote the standard wants building projects to produce a minimum percentage of their peak electrical load through on-site generation such as by photovoltaic panels or equivalent solar water heating systems.

Water use efficiency is seen as another important part of the proposed standard, which may require that interior water achieve a minimum of 25% reduction through improvements from the Energy Policy Act of 1992 for plumbing fixtures and strategies for reclaiming water in other areas. Exterior water systems would have more sophisticated controls and not use potable water, Hogan said.

Hogan said one topic of interest to the committee is sustainable sites. Members are discussing requiring construction to take place appropriate sites where construction already exists or on a "greenfield" site that is close to high-density areas or has access to mass transit.

In the area of indoor environmental quality, the committee is considering requiring that supply outdoor air exceed the minimum requirements of ASHRAE 62.1-2007 - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. The committee also is discussing the use of low-emitting materials and installation of CO2 sensors to monitor densely occupied spaces.

The committee is looking at requirements for:

• Construction plan.
• Transportation management plan.
• Indoor air quality (IAQ) management plan

The goal, according to Hogan, will be to reduce materials and energy consumption as well as to reduce carbon emissions.

The proposed standard was released for public review and comments will be accepted through July 9, 2007. Interested parties can read the addenda or to comment on the ASHRAE web site at http://www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

Source: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. (ASHRAE).