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2018 WSECNAVIGATING THE NEW REQUIREMENTS

Lisa Rosenow, Director – Energy Code ServicesEvergreen Technology Consulting (ETC)lrosenow@evergreen-tech.net(360) 539-5202

Code Interpretation

u This presentation represents ETC’s unofficialinterpretation of code intent.

u Official interpretations of code provisions are made only by the SBCC in response to questions submitted by building officials.

u Official interpretations are published on the SBCC website and are deemed advisoryinformation.

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Topics we’ll discuss ~

ü Where is DOAS required?ü Quick note about TSPRü New system for additional efficiency creditsü Building enclosure testing changesü New WSEC Commercial Website!!!

Progressu Most commonly

asked mechanical questions under the 2012 WSEC § How do I avoid

having to comply with the economizer provisions?

§ When is economizer required for alterations?

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Progress

Beginning of the Code Development Process

TAG Member sifting thru the pile of code change proposals

u Most commonly asked mechanical questions under the 2015 WSEC § How do I avoid

having to comply with the DOAS provisions?

§ When is DOAS required for alterations?

Progress

End of the TAG Code Development Process

TAG Chair

Approved Proposals

TAG

u Most commonly asked mechanical questions under the 2018 WSEC § What’ll the new

#1 question be?§ How can we

minimize the obstacles?

§ What technical support will be needed?

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2015 WSEC DOASu Purpose – De-couple

the delivery of ventilation air from space conditioning.

u Benefit – When there is no call for heating or cooling, the space conditioning system fans can be shut off.

u What types of occupied spaces are required to have ventilation air delivered by a DOAS?

ü Officeü Retailü Education

ü Librariesü Fire Stations

u SBCC Official Interpretation 17-09 ~u Applies to areas within buildings

that are for office, retail and educational use.

u Applies to all occupied areas within a library or fire station that are not naturally ventilated.

u Does not apply to these types of areas if they are accessory to a building designated as a different primary use.

u What is an accessory occupancy?§ IBC 508.2 – Occupancies that are

ancillary to the main occupancy of the building.

§ IBC 508.2.3 – Aggregate accessory occupancies shall not occupy more than 10% of the floor area of the story in which they are located.

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Where is DOAS

required?(The fine print)

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u SBCC Official Interpretation 17-09 ~u “Education” refers to classrooms

and lecture use areas. u “Retail” refers to areas utilized for

the purpose of display and sale of goods.

u Does not apply to medical office buildings.

u SBCC Official Interpretation 18-05 ~u What about food service &

grocery?

§ YES – Grocery stores, markets, convenience stores

§ NO – Kitchens, restaurants, cafes, cafeteria/dining, coffee shops

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Where is DOAS

required?(More fine print)

What about

alterations?(Read the fine print)

u Quick answersu Existing system is altered or part of

system replaced? DOAS not requiredu Heating-only system replacement?

DOAS not requiredu Cooling added to space not

previously cooled? DOAS or economizer

u Mechanical cooling equipment replacement, including change to a different cooling system type or like-for-like replacement? DOAS or integrated economizer

u Other options?§ C503.4 Exception that allows

alternate energy saving strategies where existing building constraints make full compliance impractical.

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2018 WSEC DOAS Scope

Expanded Scope – Now based on IBC Occupancy Classifications

Adds most high occupant density and business-related occupancies

u Group A-1 – Fixed seating assemblyu All theaters & concert halls

u Group A-2 u Adds casino gaming areasu Still exempt - Restaurants,

cafeterias, taverns/bars, banquetu Group A-3 – Libraries and…

u Adds lecture, community & exhibition halls, courtrooms, gynmasiums, places of religious worship

u Group E – Classroom/lecture and… u Adds day care centersu Educational rooms and

auditoriums that are accessory to a place of religious worship

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Where will DOAS be required?

(Recommended read – 2018 IBC

Chapter 3)

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Where will DOAS be required?

(Recommended read – 2018 IBC

Chapter 3)

u Group B – General offices and…u Professional services including

dental, physicians and outpatient clinics

u Banks and post officesu Radio and television stationsu Training and skill development

(tutoring centers, fitness studios)u Barber, beauty, print shopsu Dry cleaning and laundriesu Still exempt – Ambulatory care

facilities, veterinary clinics, testing & research labs, food processing and commercial kitchens, data processing

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u Group M – Includes all retail areas utilized for the display and sales of goods.

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Total System Performance Ratio (TSPR)u Purpose –

Whole system method of evaluating efficiency.

u Benefit –Encourages HVAC strategies with better overall system performance.

u Demonstrating complianceu Compare the proposed

mechanical system against a prototype system to ensure the baseline efficiency is met.

u Calculated using the TSPR software program. (Modeling lite)

u TSPR = (Heating + Cooling Loads) / Carbon Emissions

u Apples-to-apples way of comparing common systems.

When is TSPR score required?

(Refer to WSEC Appendix D)

u Required for systems subject to the DOAS provisions.

u Exceptions:§ Buildings with conditioned floor

area < 5,000 sf.§ Heating only systems.§ Systems using district heating

water, chilled water or steam.§ Where chilled water is supplied by

absorption chillers, heat recovery chillers, or a combination of air-and water-cooled chillers on the same loop.

§ Where chilled water or heating water is supplied by air-to-water or water-to-water heat pumps.

§ Underfloor air distribution systems.

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2018 WSEC Additional Efficiency Creditsu Purpose – Requires

enhanced energy efficiency measures.

u Change – Credits will be weighted based on occupancy type and modeled energy performance value.

u New construction, including shell & core

u First occupancy build-out of a tenant space

u Building additionsu Retrofits requiring full compliance

with the current WSEC – change in space conditioning or occupancy

u Applies to all levels of space conditioning – low energy, semi-heated, fully conditioned, refrigerated coolers and freezers

u Refer to SBCC official interpretations 17-02 & 17-03

Which project

types are required to

comply with efficiency credits?

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u Six (6) credits - All fully conditioned and semi-heated areas of a building shall demonstrate compliance with at least six credits.

u Three (3) credits allowed for -u Low energy spaces u Equipment buildings (500 sf

or less)u Building additions with less

than 1,000 sf conditioned floor area.

How many credits are required?

3 key changes to the HVAC creditu #1 - Strategic Sentence Move

u Charging statement will say – 90% of the total HVAC capacity serving the total conditioned floor area shall comply with this section.

u This means that the 90% threshold applies to all three requirements –§ Must be equipment listed in the WSEC.§ Rated equipment efficiency shall be 15% better

than code.§ Minimum fan efficiency shall be 71 REG.

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3 key changes to the HVAC credit

u Better than code efficiency requirement applies to all efficiency criteria (heating, cooling, full load, part load).

u Problematic for some equipment where cooling efficiency can meet this standard but heating efficiency cannot.

u NEW! - Code will allow all rated efficiencies compared to code target efficiencies to be area weighted.

u Resulting overall weighted average efficiency percentage shall be at least 15% better than Code.

u At minimum, all equipment shall have a rated efficiency that is at least 5% better than the Code target.

u #2 – Weighted Average Efficiency Percentage

NEWS BREAKWSEC website will have

a calculator for this!

3 key changes to the HVAC creditu #3 – Systems Serving Low Energy & Semi-Heated Spaces

u NEW! – Low energy and semi-heated spaces may be deemed to comply (no additional requirements) if:§ At least 90% of installed heating capacity is

electric or gas-fired infrared heating equipment.§ Must serve only localized heating applications.§ Stand-alone supply, return and exhaust fans

comply with 71 FEG requirement.

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DOAS Efficiency Credit Changes

u #1 – Base DOAS creditu No longer allowed for building areas

that are required to comply with the DOAS provision. (No more double-dipping.)

u #2 – New High Efficiency DOAS Creditu Will be allowed for building areas

required to comply with DOAS.u Heat recovery minimum sensible

effectiveness is at least 80%.u DOAS total combined fan power is less

than 0.5 W/cfm. This includes supply, exhaust, recirculation fans used for the purpose of ventilation.

u #1 + #2 – Will be allowed for building areas that are not required to comply with DOAS.

More new credits available!

Heat pump water heaters in Group R-2

Energy Star rated commercial kitchen equipment

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WSEC Air Barriersu Purpose – Mitigate

uncontrolled air movement thru the building envelope.

u Benefit – Reduces heat energy loss and building pressurization fan energy.

u Code requirements include air barrier assemblies and building enclosure testing.

Image courtesy of Morrison Hershfield

Building enclosure testing§ Required for all

commercial buildings regardless of size.

§ Testing criteria per ASTM E779 or alternative method approved by the AHJ (i.e. ASTM E1827, etc)

§ Test report provided to the code official & building owner Image courtesy of Neudorfer Engineers

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Building Test Provision2015 SEC Provisionsu Target = 0.3 cfm per SF

2018 WSECu Target = 0.25 cfm per SFu Passing Target = 0.4 cfm

per SFu All commercial

buildings will be required to pass!

2015 WSECu Target = 0.4 cfm per SFu SF = Square foot area

of the air barrier boundary

u Test pressure = 0.3” w.g. or 75 pascals

u Must perform test but meeting the target is optional.

u Follow-up leak-sealing efforts required if building doesn’t pass.

u Re-testing not required.

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What if the building fails the building enclosure

test?

u Per the 2018 WSEC, if the building fails the test…§ Conduct inspection of all air

barrier elements.§ Document identified sources of

air leakage and corrective action taken to remedy.

§ Re-test until the building passes the 0.4 cfm/SF required maximum leakage rate.

§ Provide test results to the code official.

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Additional Efficiency Credit

2015 WSECu Target = 0.25 cfm per SFu Building must pass

2018 WSECu Target = 0.17 cfm per SFu Accounts for one credit

(or two for Group R-2) u Building must pass

Image courtesy of Neudorfer Engineers

Example of a 34-story high rise that had a tested leakage rate of 0.20 cfm/sf!

Engineer’s Roleu Inform all team members of the project target and their role

to achieve this level of envelope performance.u Include sealing and gasketing requirements in mechanical

specs for all ductwork, piping, conduit, etc that will penetrate the air barrier.

u Specify low leakage dampers.u Coordinate with mechanical and plumbing sub-contractors.

0.25 cfm/sf

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WSEC Commercial Technical Support Website

Thank you!NAVIGATING THE NEW REQUIREMENTS OF THE 2018 WSEC

WSEC Commercial Technical Supportcom.techsupport@waenergycodes.com(360) 539-5300