Codes & Standards

April 1, 2009
ASHRAE The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently announced the publication of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard

ASHRAE

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently announced the publication of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135-2008, BACnet — A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks.

Standard 135-2008 includes new guidance related to the Load Control object, an extension to reduce a building's energy consumption on demand. Also, it covers the Access Door object, the first extension to fully support physical-access control; improvements in BACnet-device requirements; new capabilities, such as BACnet Web Services; and a standardized and interoperable means of recording alarms.

The cost of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135-2008 is $99 for ASHRAE members and $119 for non-members. To order, call 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (rest of the world), fax 404-321-5478, or visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore.

In other news, ASHRAE recently announced that the 2004 version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the new commercial-building reference standard for state building energy codes under the federal Energy Policy Act (EPAct), replacing the 1999 version of the standard.

According to a ruling issued by the U.S. Department of Energy: “The quantitative analysis of the energy consumption of buildings built to Standard 90.1-2004, as compared with buildings built to Standard 90.1-1999, indicates national source energy savings of approximately 13.9 percent of commercial-building energy consumption. Site energy savings are estimated to be approximately 11.9 percent.”

The EPAct requires all states to certify they have energy codes at least as stringent as Standard 90.1-2004 in place or justify why they cannot comply.

IAPMO

The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) recently announced the release of the 2009 editions of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC).

Significant changes to the UPC include new requirements for the installation of nonwater urinals and prescriptive requirements for the installation of temperature-limiting devices for various fixtures, while significant changes to the UMC include new requirements for outdoor-air ventilation and the addition of 69 refrigerants to Table 11-1.

IAPMO publications can be ordered at www.iapmostore.org.

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JOHN VASTYAN

March 16, 2024
ASHRAE