ASHRAE – Requirements regarding the amount of water used to operate HVAC, plumbing and irrigation systems would be established under a proposed standard from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

“Water is the most important renewable resource on this planet,” Terry Townsend, P.E., ASHRAE president, said. “To protect this source of life, we must reduce the demand and consumption that the built environment is placing on available water sources. It is our intention to develop a standard that can be used globally to conserve this valuable resource.”

The proposed standard, Conservation of Water Use in Building, Site and Mechanical Systems, would provide baseline requirements for the design of buildings, landscapes, and mechanical systems that minimize the volume of water required to operate HVAC systems, plumbing systems, and irrigation systems.

The standard would address water use efficiency through water conservation measures implemented during design and construction of residential, commercial, institutional and industrial projects. It would not apply to storm water management.

The proposed title, purpose and scope of the standard are open for public comment until Nov. 20. Also, members are being sought to serve on a committee to write the standard.

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ASHRAE – ASHRAE has received a $510,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide guidance for designing and building healthier buildings with effective operation and maintenance programs that reduce exposure to toxics and asthma/allergy triggers.

The three-year grant will be used to write the Advanced Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Design Guide for Non-Residential Buildings, which will help professionals implement high performance designs, improve indoor air quality performance, increase energy efficiency and decrease the environmental impact of exposure to air toxics in a broad range of non-residential buildings.

The grant is part of some $4 million awarded by EPA to improve indoor air quality. ASHRAE will collaborate with the U.S. Green Building Council, the American Institute of Architects and other organizations that address indoor air quality.

“Through the guide and an associated education effort, ASHRAE will improve the long-term environmental health for building occupants by reducing their exposure to air toxics and increased productivity due to greater comfort and health of building occupants,” Terry Townsend, P.E., ASHRAE president, said. “The project addresses the EPA’s priority areas of indoor air pollutants, which include asthma triggers such as dust mites, pests, mold and air toxics.”

“We are thrilled to be working with ASHRAE on the Advanced IAQ Design Guide,” Eric Werling, EPA project officer, said. “This guide will fill a critical information need for the building industry, and ASHRAE has the experience and reputation to deliver a top-notch project.”

The guide will facilitate the design process so that advanced practice can be accomplished within the constraints of typical construction and design fees.

It is expected to be published in late 2008, with an ASHRAE Professional Development Seminar based on the guide available in late 2009.

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ATLANTA – In the big-energy State of Texas, where else would you expect engineers to seek to emphasize the importance of reducing energy use in buildings in order to achieve a sustainable future? At the 2007 ASHRAE Winter Meeting, of course.

Energy use in buildings from HVAC&R and lighting account for up to 40% of a building’s energy use. Examples of engineers’ ability to significantly reduce a building’s energy consumption and footprint on the environment will be demonstrated at a free public session at ASHRAE’s 2007 Winter Meeting in Dallas. Strategies for Low Energy Efficient Buildings will be held Monday, January 29 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Dallas Convention Center.

“With the support of building owners, engineers can create green buildings that use energy wisely, provide a productive indoor environment for occupants, and have a minimal impact on the environment,” said Brian Wandling, the session organizer on the program committee. “ASHRAE is a leader in the sustainability movement, and this public session highlights what ASHRAE and the HVAC&R industry is doing to make buildings more energy efficient.”

The session, moderated by Brian Wandling of Control Specialists Inc., will consist of several case study presentations that examine various energy-efficiency strategies and obstacles. Speakers for the session are:

• Ken Fulk, principal, Reed Wells Benson & Co., presents a case study about Dallas-based Highland Oaks Church of Christ replacing their aging ice storage system and air-chilled coolers after deregulation.

• David Hale, Associate Member, HDR Architecture, talks about a McKinney, Texas, office building that, when completed, will achieve a 67% decrease in energy usage based on cost as compared to ASHRAE’s 90.1-1999.

• Daniel Nall, Flack & Kurtz, presents a case study about the New York Times headquarters building and it various green design features, including its underfloor air distribution system and its fully programmable digitally addressable lighting interface (DALI) system.

• Paul A. Torcellini, senior engineer, NREL, presents six low-energy buildings to discuss their strategies for energy efficiency and implications for reaching the Department of Energy’s research goal of achieving net zero-energy buildings) by 2025.

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ATLANTA – A standard that will address such airplane air quality issues as temperature, humidity and ventilation rates is one step closer to being published. ASHRAE’s proposed new Standard 161P, Air Quality Within Commercial Aircraft, is open for its second public review until November 6, 2006.

After the first public review last year, the committee in charge of the standard’s drafting process received approximately 100 comments from more than 20 people. According to committee vice chairman Scott Earnest important changes were made in many of the topics addressed in the comments. “The draft standard is expected to significantly improve aircraft air quality for passengers and crews,” Earnest said.

Revisions address issues such as general requirements for pressure, temperature and humidity, as well as the ventilation rate requirements for various areas within the cabin and supply air for the aircraft while it is on the ground. One significant change provides more flexibility in meeting the filtration requirements for recirculated air.

Also addressed were comments related to contaminant concentrations for ozone and carbon monoxide in the cabin. The revised proposed standard also alters the control measures that are specified for bacteria, viruses and pesticides.

The proposed standard would apply to commercial passenger air-carrier aircraft carrying 20 or more passengers. It is intended to apply to all phases of flight operations and to ground operations whenever the aircraft is occupied by passengers or crew members.

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ATLANTA – ASHRAE will be showing off its technical expertise at the 2007 AHR Expo in January. For the first time, 16 technical sessions will be held at the AHR Expo during the 2007 ASHRAE Winter Meeting in Dallas. Designed to share ASHRAE’s technical guidance with Expo attendees, the sessions include topics such as vibration control, energy-efficient ventilation systems, using ground-source heat pumps in schools, and new BACnet capabilities.

“Offering attendees an opportunity to learn about the latest advancements in technology via the technical program complements the Expo, which features those advancements being incorporated into products and equipment,” says Ginger Scoggins, chair of the program committee. “These sessions make ASHRAE’s meeting and top-rate technical program more visible while at the same time drawing more meeting attendees to the expo.”

In addition, ASHRAE will present a comprehensive technical program at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, January 28-31. The overall six-track technical program centers around energy efficiency in buildings and includes such seminars as Achieving a 50 Percent Approach to Net Zero Energy Use in Buildings and Risk Management of Infectious Airborne Diseases. The technical program consists of 67 seminars plus the 16 seminars at the convention center, 12 open-discussion forums, one public session, one poster session with 21 papers presented, and 18 transaction sessions with a total of 48 papers presented.

Also new for this year is the technical plenary speaker, National Geographic Magazine Executive Editor Dennis Dimick. Dimick, a picture editor specializing in environmental stories for more than 15 years, will address technical program attendees between sessions on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 9:30 a.m. at the Adam’s Mark hotel about a 2004 project he oversaw on global climate change. Meeting registration is required to attend.

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ATLANTA – Buildings designers are one step closer to a net-zero energy building.

Published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Retail Buildings is the second in a series of publications that cover various types of building construction. Intended for use by builders, contractors and architects, the guide covers energy-efficient design for retail buildings up to 20,000 square feet.

“The purpose of the design guide is to provide a simple, prescriptive menu of options that will result in a building using 30% less energy than those constructed in accordance with the 1999 version of ASHRAE Standard 90.1, the foundation for energy efficiency in building codes throughout the United States,” said Merle McBride, chairman of the committee overseeing the book’s creation. “Those looking to achieve a LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will find this guide particularly useful.”

The guide offers energy efficiency guidance in many areas, including lighting, HVAC efficiencies, windows, skylights and envelope measures. A major difference from Standard 90.1 is that the guide provides equipment efficiencies by climate zone to take into account varying environmental factors, instead of having one number for the entire United States.

The guide resulted from collaboration among ASHRAE, the Department of Energy, USGBC, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The retail industry provided guidance to the guide’s development team to ensure building owner perspectives were considered when forming design recommendations. To help in future editions, users of the guide will be able to provide feedback via an Internet link.

The guide is part of a series of ASHRAE publications that will progress toward providing net-zero energy designs for buildings of various types. The first publication in the series focused on small office buildings, and the next energy design guide will address K-12 schools.

“This is a long-term endeavor by ASHRAE,” said McBride. “ASHRAE is focusing on improving the energy efficiency of the nation’s building stock, targeting where the greatest energy–saving impact can be achieved.”