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1. Why was this series of Guides initiated?
2. Who determines the scope of these projects?
3. What is the objective of the Guides?
4. What's the intended level of complexity in the documents?
5. What's the role of economics in determining the recommendations?
6. Why aren't the recommendations the same for all locations?
7. Are exotic or specialized equipment and/or materials required to achieve the 30% energy savings?
8. Are the Guides considered ASHRAE standards?
9. Will the Guides give all the answers and cover all cases?
10. Will the Guides replace Standard 90.1?
11. How was the review done on these documents?
12. What's the difference between an ASHRAE Standard, an ASHRAE Guideline and an ASHRAE Special Publication?
13. Why was Standard 90.1-1999 rather than the 2001 or 2004 versions used as the base?
14. How does the 30% AEDG relate to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED or the Energy Star rating systems?
15. ASHRAE's series of Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs) aim to "achieve 30% energy savings toward a net-zero energy building" based on the 90.1- 1999. Will recent or future versions of Standard 90.1 surpass the 30% goal outlined in the AEDGs and will these AEDG’s still be viable publications?
16. What is the relationship between ASHRAE Standard 90.1, the Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) series, and Standard 189.1P?
Advanced Energy Design Guide FAQ’s - Why was this series of Guides initiated?
ASHRAE gained recognition as an organizational authority on energy issues in the 1970s when it was asked to develop a national standard on energy conservation. We met that challenge, and ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings continues to influence building designs worldwide. It has become the basis for building codes, and the standard for building design and construction throughout the U.S. Buildings built to our current standards use significantly less energy than buildings built prior to the development of Std 90-75. While standards play a vital role in the construction industry, the language and format of standards limit their ability to provide guidance during the critical design process, and more define “minimum” performance, instead of exemplary or design leadership. Design excellence has been an ASHRAE tradition, and there has been a great demand by our members and others for ASHRAE to continue playing a leadership role in developing material on designing and maintaining energy conserving buildings that goes beyond minimum standards of performance.
- Who determines the scope of these projects?
An AEDG Steering Committee (SC) has been established and has the responsibility of approving the initiation of a project and the final product of a Special Project. Following the establishment of new Guide Special Project (SP) by the Technology Council, the SC develops a well-defined scope and direction for the project. The SC works closely with the SP Project Committee to respond to scope-issue questions during the development of the document and in the review process when additional issues relating to the scope are recommended.
- What is the objective of the Guides?
The Guides are intended to provide a simple and easy approach to design and build energy efficient buildings for use by contractors and designers who design and construct the specific building types represented in the Guides.
- What's the intended level of complexity in the documents?
Since many of these buildings do not have design teams with fees enabling them to evaluate energy conserving alternatives, and many of these buildings are constructed via design/build firms or contractors, the Guide is intended to provide a simple and easy approach for use by contractors and designers.
- What's the role of economics in determining the recommendations?
The role of, and whether and/or how economics were to be included, has been debated thoroughly by the Steering Committee (SC). The project definitions developed by the SC indicate that energy use is considered as the independent variable that is specified, and cost effectiveness (as measured for example by simple payback period) is the dependent or resulting variable; thus 30% energy savings beyond Standard 90.1 is the driver. That is, the objective of the recommendations is to respond to the building owner who plans on occupying the building for a long period of time and who wants recommendations on energy savings features beyond those measures that are generally considered to have a short payback period. This allows consideration of a package of installation ideas that might not be considered if a fixed payback period for individual measures was stipulated. Significant energy savings occur when the total energy picture for a longer time frame is evaluated rather than only picking the "low hanging fruit" with short payback periods.
- Why aren't the recommendations the same for all locations?
Climate greatly impacts the way energy is used in buildings. Recommending the same high efficient heating system in Miami as is recommended in Duluth, or recommending the same air-conditioning efficiency in Duluth as in Miami is neither reasonable nor practical as long as there are price differentials in levels of efficiency.
- Are exotic or specialized equipment and/or materials required to achieve the 30% energy savings?
No. To quantify the expected energy savings, potential envelope, lighting, HVAC and service water heating energy saving measures were selected for analysis and recommendation. Only measures and equipment that were deemed to be both practical and commercially available from at least two manufacturers were considered. Although some of the products may be considered premium, products of similar energy efficiency performance are available from multiple manufacturers.
- Are the Guides considered ASHRAE standards?
No. These are Special Publications which give a way, but not the only way of achieving an energy efficient building. They are not intended to be used as a standard or to specify minimum (or maximum) values. The documents are not written in standard language and the design of the final documents will discourage use as a standard. They are written to provide options for those wishing to exceed minimum performance by a specified amount.
Standards play a vital role in the construction industry. They represent a consensus on the way something must be done or measured, or represent the minimum allowable performance that must be achieved. However the language and format of standards make it impossible for them to provide necessary education or guidance during the critical design process.
- Will the Guides give all the answers and cover all cases?
No. The documents are not all-encompassing. They are guidance and how-to documents that provide advice on a way, but not the only way to achieve the goal for a particular kind of building (eg. small offices). It is readily acknowledged there are other ways not included which may accomplish the same targeted energy savings.
- Will the Guides replace Standard 90.1?
No. The AEDG series contains recommendations and is not a minimum code or standard. It is intended to be used in addition to the existing codes and standards and is not intended to circumvent them. Each publication is also only applicable to a specific type of building, vs. all non-residential buildings covered by Std 90.1.
- How was the review done on these documents?
The integrity of the documents is checked by an open, peer review process. The review process is announced and discussed in many public forums including the ASHRAE web site. There are multiple reviews by participating organizations and the relevant technical committees for the purpose of: identifying major conceptual concerns, identifying major technical concerns, conducting technical refinement, and identifying factual errors. Specific dates for the review periods and the purpose of each of the review are announced and discussed in many public forums including the ASHRAE web site. The Steering Committee clarifies direction on issues raised during the open peer review (e.g., recommendations made to expand the scope of the project or conflicting recommendations received from separate reviewers) and assesses the Special Project considerations and implementations of peer reviewers' recommendations.
- What's the difference between an ASHRAE Standard, an ASHRAE Guideline and an ASHRAE Special Publication?
ASHRAE writes standards and guidelines in its fields of expertise to guide industry in the delivery of goods and services to the public. ASHRAE standards and guidelines include uniform methods of testing for rating purposes, describe recommended practices in designing and installing equipment and provide other information to guide the industry. Consensus standards are developed and published to define minimum values or acceptable performance. Other documents such as an ASHRAE Guideline or a Special Publication may be developed and published to encourage enhanced performance, educate the user or provide additional information on a particular subject. Special Publications, such as design manuals, application guides, technical bulletins, etc., are developed outside of the formal standards making process, following rules established by the ASHRAE Board. The AEDG series are ASHRAE Special Publications.
- Why was Standard 90.1-1999 rather than the 2001 or 2004 versions used as the base?
Buildings built to Standard 90.1 are being used as a benchmark or a base for comparative purposes - analogous to the base year being used as 100 for the consumer price index. The particular version of the standard used is not as critical as having a well-defined starting point and maintaining continuity between the various Guides in the AEDG series. The 2004 version was not approved before the initial Guide was completed, so it was therefore not suitable to be used as the base. Subsequent Guides are using the same base in order to maintain continuity within the series.
- How does the 30% AEDG relate to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED or the Energy Star rating systems?
A goal of the document is to be able to provide guidance in achieving Energy & Atmosphere points in the LEED rating system. LEED credits may be obtained for adherence to the recommendations in the AEDG for Small Offices, and soon will be available for Small Retail buildings. Energy Star rated appliances and office equipment are recommended. There is not currently a direct relationship with the new Energy Star ratings for commercial buildings that requires an energy rating of 75 or greater to achieve Energy Star certification. Further analysis is being done to compare the Energy Star ratings with the recommendations of the AEDG.
- ASHRAE's series of Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs) aim to "achieve 30% energy savings toward a net-zero energy building" based on the 90.1- 1999. Will recent or future versions of Standard 90.1 surpass the 30% goal outlined in the AEDGs and will these AEDG’s still be viable publications?
Certainly as 90.1 gets more stringent, the standard will eventually surpass the energy savings in the 30% AEDGs, however, they will remain excellent tools for energy-efficient design of buildings for quite some time. These guides provide a good starting point for anyone looking for a simple way to improve their energy efficiency and remain a good resource due to the information contained in the how-to tips. In fact, many of the energy simulation results for the AEDGs showed greater than 30% savings (see the Technical Support Documents); in some climates the recommendations also exceed 90.1-2004 by 30%. Also, not all areas of the US have incorporated the latest 90.1 standards into code, which would mean those areas would still benefit greatly from the savings outlined in the guide. Many states are slow to adopt the latest versions of 90.1 keeping the30% AEDGs relevant for several years.
The guides are still useful when comparing to the 2004 and 2007 versions of the 90.1 but the 30% savings erodes to a lower value (still at least 15% relative to 2007). Each of the AEDGs except the Small Office guide (which was developed before the 2004 information was fully available) list the average savings as compared to 2004. When these 50% AEDG’s are developed (starting later in 2009), they will use Standard 90.1-2004 as a benchmark.
- What is the relationship between ASHRAE Standard 90.1, the Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) series, and Standard 189.1P?
While each of these publications is related to reducing energy use of buildings, each has a different stated purpose and objective.
ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is published as a consensus standard to provide minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of new and renovated or retrofitted buildings. 90.1 has become the basis for building codes, and the standard for building design and construction throughout the United States. 90.1-2004 has recently been approved by DOE as the minimum standard to be met by all states in the U.S. It is written in a code intended language as minimum requirements so it does not necessarily provide exemplary or state-of-the-art design guidance. ASHRAE Standard 90.1 is on continuous maintenance and is republished on a three year cycle. The current version is 90.1-2007.
In contrast the ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDG) are a series of publications designed to provide prescriptive recommendations for achieving 30% energy savings over the minimum requirements in Standard 90.1-1999 in eight U.S. climate zones. They are developed by a committee of experts and undergo peer review but are not developed through a consensus process. They show a way, but not the only way, to achieve 30% savings. This 1999 version of 90.1 provides the reference point to maintain a consistent baseline and scale for the AEDG 30% series. However, many of the energy simulation results for the AEDGs showed greater than 30% savings (see the Technical Support Documents (TSD)); in some climates the recommendations also exceed 90.1-2004 by 30%. These guides also provide a prescriptive path to achieving LEED v2.2 and v3.0 Energy & Atmosphere credits for New Construction and Major Renovation projects.
As 90.1 gets more stringent, the standard will eventually surpass the energy savings recommended in the 30% AEDGs, however, they will remain excellent tools for energy-efficient design of buildings for quite some time. These guides provide a good starting point for anyone looking for a prescriptive, simple way to improve their energy efficiency and remain a good resource due to the information contained in the how-to tips. Each of the AEDGs (except the Small Office guide) lists the average savings as compared to 90.1-2004. Additional AEDGs at 50% energy savings are also planned. When these 50% AEDG’s are developed (starting later in 2009), they will use Standard 90.1-2004 as a benchmark.
ASHRAE Standard 189.1P, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is intended for buildings that wish to exceed the minimum requirements of Standard 90.1. This standard is currently in development with a goal for publication in early 2010. Public reviews will be available at the Standards page of the ASHRAE website.
189.1P is broader in scope than 90.1 and is intended to provide minimum requirements for the siting, design, and construction (including plans for operation) of high performance, green buildings. The goal is not just energy efficiency but a balance of environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well being, and community sensitivity, and support the goal of sustainable development.
189.1P has some overlap in scope with ASHRAE Standard 90.1 in that 189.1P includes a section on building energy efficiency. However, the 189.1 requirements will be consistent in nature with 90.1 but will include significantly more stringent energy requirements. 189.1P is not referenced in the AEDGs or ASHRAE Standard 90.1.
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