Incorporating a Method of Verifying Performance into California’s Nonresidential Energy Standards

Tav Commins, California Energy Commission
Jeff Johnson, New Buildings Institute
Amanda Potter, Portland Energy Conservation, Inc.

Keywords

Abstract

California has one of the most stringent energy codes for commercial buildings in the United States. Yet studies have shown that equipment required by code is sometimes not installed and often installed but not functioning properly to deliver projected energy savings. To address this issue, the California Energy Commission proposed to incorporate acceptance requirements for the most problematic pieces of equipment into the 2005 revision of the California Energy Efficiency Standards for Nonresidential Buildings (the Standards). “Acceptance requirements” refers to a set of inspection checks, functional tests and performance tests applied to specific building components (pieces of equipment, systems, and interfaces between systems) for the purpose of assessing how well or if the components conform to the criteria set forth in the building’s construction contract documents (its plans or specifications) or the Standards. The selected equipment includes ductwork, packaged HVAC units, lighting controls, economizers, and the outdoor air portion of variable air volume systems.

This paper details the research and conclusions of the project on how acceptance requirements will be incorporated into the Standards. Other topics include how acceptance requirements differ from commissioning, how the requirements will be incorporated into the existing code compliance process, and the organizations who will have the authority to conduct the acceptance requirements testing.. The paper concludes by looking toward next steps in the drafting and implementation of the revised Standards.