June __, 2012
Building Energy Code Programs Manager
Building Technologies Program
US Department of Energy
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Forrestal Building
Mail Station EE-2J
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585-0121
Dear ______:
Title III of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6831-6837), requires states to certify to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that they have reviewed the energy provisions of their building code, held public hearings and made a determination as to whether their code meets or exceeds the national code within two years of federal notice. In the July 20, 2011, edition of the Federal Register the, U.S. Department of Energy noticed that the 2007 edition of the Energy Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1 would achieve greater energy efficiency in buildings than the 2004 edition.
The Florida Building Commission, which has statutory authority to administer the Florida Building Code (s. 553.72(3), Florida Statutes), hereby certifies that Chapter 5 of the 2010 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, meets or exceeds the 2007 edition of the Energy Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1 for buildings other than low-rise residential. A copy of the 2010 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, is enclosed for your files.
The Energy Code Workgroup of the Florida Building Commission met eleven times over more than a year, working to integrate Florida’s energy code into the 2009 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code during its triennial code update process. The Florida commercial energy code’s standard reference design features are based on Chapter 11 of the 2004 ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (including by reference its prescriptive compliance tables) and are adjusted by a 0.80 multiplier to make the code 20 percent more stringent than that standard. Analysis by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC-CR-1807-09) shows that ASHRAE 90.1-2007 is 4 percent to 9 percent more stringent that ASHRAE 90.1-2004. As a result, the 2010
Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, with its requirement that buildings exceed the standard reference design features of ASHRAE 90.1-2004 by 20 percent, exceeds the minimum performance requirements of ASHRAE 90.1-2007 by 11 percent to 16 percent. Also, Florida has incorporated many of the addenda to ASHRAE 90.1-2007 that make it reflect efficiencies now in ASHRAE 90.1-2010.
U.S. Department of Energy
June __, 2012
Page 2
At its June 12, 2012 meeting, the Florida Building Commission reviewed this submittal to the US Department of Energy and voted to certify that the 2010 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation meets or exceeds ASHRAE 90.1-2007. Florida is proud to be one of the first states to adopt an energy efficiency code as part of its statewide mandatory building codes. Its energy code is an important policy to the State and has been maintained since its inception in 1979 to consistently equal or exceed minimum federal standards. Should you have questions regarding the Commission’s findings, please contact Ann Stanton or Mo Madani, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation technical staff, at (850) 487-1824. Their email addresses are ann.stanton@dbpr.state.fl.us and mo.madani@dbpr.state.fl.us.
Sincerely,
Richard S. Browdy, Chairman
Florida Building Commission
ALS/sas
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