ASHRAE Journal - September 2011 - AMCA6

C O D E W AT C H

Update on Fan Efﬁciency Grade Adoption into ASHRAE 90.1 and the International Green Construction Code
By TIMOTHY ORRIS, Director of Publications and Standards, and JOE BROOKS, Director of Certiﬁcation Programs, AMCA International, Arlington Hts., Ill.

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Energy E Classifica fficiency tion for F ans

This article documents the history of industry efforts, and report current events surrounding fan efﬁciency grading, and the subsequent use of Fan Efﬁciency Grades (FEGs) in performance codes and standards. This effort began in response to a charge from the ASHRAE 90.1 standing committee’s mechanical subcommittee, AMCA collaborated with ASHRAE technical committee TC 5.1 for nearly four years to develop a way that fan efﬁciencies could be speciﬁed in prescriptive codes and standards. AMCA published AMCA 205—Energy Efﬁciency Classiﬁcation for Fans in 2010, which deﬁnes fan efﬁciency grades (FEGs) in accordance with their aerodynamic efﬁciency, and apart from motors, drives, inlet, and outlet equipment. AMCA 205 also speciﬁes that fans must be selected within 10 percentage points of their peak total efﬁciency. With AMCA 205 now available for reference, ASHRAE and the International Code Council are moving to adopt FEGs and the 10-point criteria into ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1 and the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), respectively. Note: For background information on Fan Efﬁciency Grades (FEGs), and how they are applied in new construction and retroﬁt/replacement projects, read the article “AMCA’s Fan Efﬁciency Grades: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions” by Tim Mathson and Michael Ivanovich. FEGs in ASHRAE 90.1 On June 10, 2011, as this article was being written, ASHRAE released Addendum u as an “advisory” Continuous Maintenance Proposal for a 45-day review period. According to ASHRAE, unlike comments received through ASHRAE’s formal call for public comments process, comments received on advisory public reviews are considered opportunities for constructive input from interested and materially affected parties into the development of proposed language that will be issued for ofﬁcial public review and need not be resolved or formally acted on by the project committee. Addendum u speciﬁes a minimum FEG rating of 67 (FEG67) based on manufacturers’ certiﬁed data and states that the fan’s design point of operation must be within 10 percentage points of the fan’s maximum total efﬁciency. It applies to all stand-alone 6
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fans requiring motors greater than 5 hp and to fans over 5 bhp that are contained in some packaged equipment. (Generally, that equipment does not burn fuel or include a compressor, e.g., fan coils.) Addendum u does not include air curtains, induced ﬂow fans, energy recovery ventilators (heat recovery ventilators), or positive pressure ventilators since these products cannot be certiﬁed in accordance with AMCA 211. In an ASHRAE press release about Addendum u, Ned Heminger, chair of the Standard 90.1’s Mechanical Subcommittee, said, “Currently, the standard only regulates fan power at the system design level, In other words, the amount of fan power allowed in a system is based on the system maximum airﬂow rate. However, the standard does not set requirements for the manufacturers of fans…. Developing a fan efﬁciency metric that applies to the manufacturing of fans will encourage the advancement of efﬁcient fan design. As fan efﬁciency increases, fan power needs decrease. This allows the standard to improve on the fan power limits in the future.” AMCA, ASHRAE TC 5.1, and the ASHRAE 90.1 Mechanical Subcommittee will consider the comments after the review period has closed, and reach an agreement on language leading to a formal Continuous Maintenance Proposal for public peer review later in the year. FEGs in the IGCC AMCA responded afﬁrmatively to an opportunity to include FEG requirements in what will become the ﬁrst edition of the International Code Council’s International Green Construction Code, scheduled for release in late 2011. During public hearings in May 2011, AMCA submitted a code change proposal containing a minimum FEG of 71 (FEG71) for stand-alone supply, return, and exhaust fans that require a motor greater
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ASHRAE Journal - September 2011

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