FLORIDA BUILDING COMMISSION
Energy Technical Advisory Committee
Hollywood, Florida
July 10, 2006
The meeting was convened by Chair Dale Greiner at 8:10 a.m. A quorum was achieved with eight voting members present.
Voting Members Present:
Steve Bassett, Ron Bailey, Bob Cochell, Jan Geyselaers, Dale Greiner, Maury Jacobson, Don Kitner and Roger Sanders.
Others Present: Ann Stanton, Bob Andrews, Tom Deckert, Arlene Stewart, Leonard Devine.
Meeting Objective:
• Review and make recommendations to the Commission on resolution of DEC request DCA06-DEC-130 concerning worst case residential equipment sizing.
• Report on progress of the Energy Code Work Group.
• Report on the contract developing energy code educational materials.
Actions Taken:
The agenda was unanimously approved. The minutes of the January 30, 2006, meeting were approved.
Consideration of DEC request DCA06-DEC-130 by Ms. Tina M. Neace, President of Florida Air Designs, Inc. ensued. In regard to the equipment sizing requirements of section 13-607.1.ABC.1, , Ms. Neace requested clarifications as to whether the code statement “on the building” included the orientation of the building and whether the code's intent was to allow a worst case scenario orientation for the equipment sizing calculation for the following buildings:
a. A multifamily two story townhome project to be located in Orlando, FL has various configurations of the buildings and 7 different unit types with 4 different orientations: North, South, East and West.
b. Model 3100 in Cross Tie Ranch Community in Lake County; a 3100 s.q. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath single story home.
Discussion of the issue included the following points: contractors say they need sizing calculations done “worst case” to save time and money; contractors know the orientation of a home before it is permitted; consumers compare size of their a/c units and demand bigger model because of lack of information about sizing; there are lifestyle considerations like entertainment that would indicate a need for increased equipment size, but are covered by the code; there can be as much as a 2 ton difference for the same home by building orientation; “worst case” is for code compliance, it was not intended to be used for equipment sizing; it is not difficult to run multiple orientations once a home is entered in a sizing computer program; sizing is important because of indoor air quality issues related to moisture control.
On a motion from Bassett and second by Sanders, the TAC unanimously approved the following recommendations as to disposition of DCA06-DEC-130:
DCA06-DEC-130 .
To the question, Is the orientation of the structure a part of the statement “on the building”?, the answer is YES, to accurately size the cooling and heating loads on a building, the orientation of the specific building must be considered.
To the question, Is it the code's intent to allow a worse case scenario orientation for an equipment sizing load calculation to be performed on this building?, the answer is NO, the equipment sizing calculation needs to be specific to the building.
However, in the case of the single family home referenced above, should a master plan be filed, sizing calculations for this building facing each of the 8 cardinal directions may be submitted until the mechanical permit is pulled for the house.
In the case of the townhomes described above, if one home is identical to the next a single sizing calculation may serve for homes facing the same orientation.
Steve Bassett reported on the actions of the Energy Code Transition Work Group that met in Cocoa on June 22, 2006. The group's recommendation was to keep the Florida energy code and to consider changes to include provisions of the International Energy Conservation Code. They also asked for authority to change the base code, although this may not be needed.
Dr. Swami from the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), reported on the results of a grant from the US Department of Energy and funding from the Florida Department of Community Affairs to develop training materials on the commercial energy code. One of the main recommendations from a committee of building department personnel convened to assess training priorities included the development of checklists for use by both building department personnel and design professionals. FSEC developed a computer program that prints customized checklists of code requirements and best practices for energy conservation in those areas for each code compliance method. Once finished, it will be available from both the Commission's and FSEC's web sites.
Adjourn:
The TAC meeting was adjourned at 9:10 a.m.