| | Existing-Building Commissioning
By RON WILKINSON, PE, LEED AP, AKF Group LLC, New York, N.Y. |
| Accounting for about 40 percent of energy consumption in the United States and contributing more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than entire nations, existing buildings are becoming the proverbial elephant in the room of energy security. Few had the benefit of commissioning when built and even fewer have undergone existing-building commissioning (EBCx), or, as it was more commonly (and less accurately) known, retrocommissioning. [MORE] |
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| | Health-Care-Facility Ventilation Standard Incorporated Into Facility Guidelines |
| As a move toward a single consensus-based standard of care, a ventilation standard from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) has been incorporated into the “Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities,” copyrighted by the Facility Guidelines Institute and published by ASHE. [MORE] |
| | AHRI Publishes Standard for Walk-In Coolers and Freezers |
| The Commercial Refrigerator Manufacturers Section of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) has approved for publication AHRI Standard 1250-2009, Performance Rating of Walk-In Coolers and Freezers. The standard establishes definitions, test requirements, rating requirements, minimum data requirements for published ratings, operating requirements, marking and nameplate data, and conformance conditions for walk-in coolers and freezers. This standard applies to mechanical refrigeration equipment consisting of an integrated single package refrigeration unit or as separate unit-cooler and condensing-unit sections in which the condensing unit can be located either outdoors or indoors. Controls can be integral or can be provided by a separate party as long as their performance is tested and certified with the listed mechanical equipment. [MORE] |
| | AHRI Launches Fluid-Pumps Product Section |
| The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) has launched a new product section: fluid pumps. The product section was approved unanimously by AHRI's Board of Directors at its Nov. 15 meeting. The new section was formed in response to demands from fluid-pump manufacturers seeking a forum to discuss and solve common issues. [MORE] |
| | WQA Develops Program for Low-Lead Laws |
| The Water Quality Association (WQA) has announced a new certification program for companies facing low-lead laws that went into effect Jan. 1 in California. California state law now prohibits the introduction into commerce of any product intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption that is not “lead free,” as defined in the California Health and Safety Code Section 116875 revisions as per Assembly Bill 1953. The maximum allowable lead content will be 0.2-percent lead in solder and flux and 0.25-percent lead in products made to convey or dispense drinking water, determined by a weighted average of wetted surface areas. [MORE] |
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