ASHRAE Journal - March 2010 - 38

Site Energy Use Index (1975 Use = 100) sign services costs of up to $0.16/ft2 ($1.72/m2). Bruce D. Hunn, Ph.D., is director of strategic technical programs at ASHRAE. He was director of technology, overseeing ASHRAE standards from 1997 to 2008. 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 Standard 90-75 Standard 90A-1980 Standard 90.1-1989 Standard 90.1-1999 Standard 90.1-2004 DOE Focus – 30% Savings Standard 90.1-2010 14% Savings 4% Savings 12% Savings 5% Savings Standard 90.1-2007 Late 70s, Early 80s By David R. Conover, Member ASHRAE 10 s discussed in the previous section, ASHRAE responded to the energy 0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 challenges of the early 70s (such as Credit: Mark Halverson, PNNL Improvements in stringency from Standard 90-75 to 90.1-2010. the oil embargo of 1973) by accepting the request from the states to process a suggested standard that NBS had published in early 1974. The NBS cal provisions of the standard but in enforceable code language standard was in response to an earlier request from the states to (as opposed to design guidance as provided in the standard). publish a consensus standard to address the design and construc- Where states did not have such authority, via legislative action, tion of buildings with respect to energy efficiency (conservation the states adopted Standard 90-75 or a comparable model code in 1970s terminology). The publication of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES directly in law or gave authority to state agencies to develop Standard 90 in 1975, covering residential and commercial build- and adopt building energy codes. At a minimum, state agencies ings, was the outcome of that request. began to adopt Standard 90-75 or a comparable model code to The publication of that standard coincided with the Energy regulate the design and construction of state-owned buildings. Policy and Conservation Act (PL94-163) in late 1975 requiring Also, local government undertook efforts to address the energy states to adopt an energy standard for new buildings and offer- issue through local laws, rules and regulations. ing financial incentives or withholding federal support if the Beginning in the early 70s, the U.S. had sparse adoption initiatives in the legislation were not adopted and implemented. of energy standards for new buildings, with the exception of This legislation created an interest in and emphasis on energy some federal programs such as the HUD Minimum Property in buildings and helped spur creation of state energy offices, Standards. By mid-decade some states adopted energy provithe addition of energy as a topic covered by the building regu- sions, and by the early 80s more than half the states had adlatory process, and an infrastructure focused on the develop- opted energy provisions for buildings. The majority of those ment, adoption, implementation and enforcement of energy provisions could be traced to Standard 90-75. The updating of standards for new buildings. Standard 90-75 was completed Standard 90-75 was undertaken by splitting the standard into and available at the right time. Federal legislation, Standard two parts: 90A contained the prescriptive path to compliance, 90-75, the market, and a new emphasis in building energy use and 90B contained the alternative performance path. A new 90C created a “land rush” to adopt and implement energy provisions was added in 1977 to provide a basis for considering building for building design and construction in mandatory as well as energy use on a source energy basis. market-driven vehicles. In response to a request from HUD in 1982 for a more The primary means of implementing those provisions was their rigorous standard for residential construction to replace the adoption via state and local laws, rules and regulations. States energy provisions of the HUD Minimum Property Standards, with authority to adopt building construction regulations began ASHRAE undertook efforts to create separate residential and to adopt Standard 90-75 or model codes, such as the Model Code commercial standards. It formed a committee to update the for Energy Conservation (MCEC), that were based on the techni- commercial provisions of Standard 90A-80, Standard 90B-75 Late 1970s to Early 1980s Arthur D. Little does a major assessment of the impacts of Standard 90-75. Standard 90 requirements are adopted by states into their own energy codes. Standard 90A-1980 published. The update did not substantially change energy conservation levels, but did include a similar lighting power budget calculation procedure. ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org March 2010

ASHRAE Journal - March 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - March 2010