MINUTES

ENERGY TAC

Hilton Hotel

Gainesville, Florida

April 6, 2009

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Chairman Dale Greiner. A quorum was achieved with 11 voting members. Steve Bassett was represented by Jeff Gross; Jan Geyselaers was represented by Keith Ponitz.

Energy Code Work Group Recommendations. The TAC reviewed the recommendations made by the Energy Code Work Group. Kent Walling of BOMA provided comment about study life, mortgage interest rate, mortgage down payment and present value cost to benefit ratio from a commercial building owner’s perspective. The following actions were taken:

ACTION: DCA staff will develop a definition for the term “Consumer”, check historic data and see if there are any possibilities by which “adder” values could be tied to a known economic indicator such as Freddy Mac. Unanimous.

ACTION: Commissioner Gross moved to accept the Energy Code Work Group’s recommendations and forward them to the Florida Building Commission. Unanimous.

Issues With the 2009 Supplement. Staff indicated that a number of concerns had been raised with issues in the 2009 Supplement to the 2007 Florida Building Code, specifically fixes needed in Rule 9B-3.047 to make the EnergyGauge USA Fla/Res and EnergyGauge Summit Fla/Com computer programs and Form 1100B consistent with the code.

Changes needed to the EnergyGauge USA Fla/Res program include treatment of multiple heating fuel types, water heater energy use in additions where bedrooms are not added, water heater location, addition of multiple water heaters and multiple duct systems, and a number of “bug” fixes.

Changes needed to the EnergyGauge Summit Fla/Com program include correcting the user interface to show the right lighting LPD, consistent use of HVAC equipment descriptors, fix data set error for constant volume air conditioning and heat pump systems (<65,000 Btu/h) to change baseline SEER from 12 to 13, adding a conversion factor to treat how systems using SEER receive an energy input ratio, baseline system assignment of PTACs for high rise residential, and a number of “bug” fixes.

John Michaels, representing Bard equipment manufacturer and the Manufactured Buildings Institute, described unintended consequences from the code change that compare equipment with a code minimum of 8.6 EER to a baseline code efficiency of SEER 13. He referenced an exception to section 11.3.2 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1, which was utilized in the baseline of Florida’s EnergyGauge Summit Fla/Com program, and requested that the program baseline for Single Package Vertical Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps be compared to that type of system’s code minimum until such time as a clarification of the issue can be obtained from ASHRAE. Clarification of the extent of such a baseline change was requested.

Commission Counsel was asked if these changes could be made under the current rulemaking process; yes, it fits under the scope of the rule development workshop scheduled for tomorrow on Rule 9B-3.047 and cost-effectiveness criteria.

Staff described minor fixes needed to Form 1100B-08, including scoping criteria, a date issue and changes needed to reflect code criteria for additions of 600 s.f. or less on the form.

ACTION: Move staff opinions on minor fixes to Form 1100B to the Commission. Unanimous.

ACTION: Move proposed fixes to EnergyGauge computer programs be accepted and forwarded to the Commission. Unanimous.

ACTION: Change baseline equipment in EnergyGauge Summit Fla/Com to reflect the minimums in Table 6.8.1D of ASHRAE 90.1-2004. Request a written clarification of the exception to section 11.3.2.a of ASHRAE 90.1 and utilize that clarification in the 2010 edition of the Florida Building Code. 9 Aye, 1 No, 1 Abstain.

New Business

A question was raised on how Florida would respond to the criteria for use of the federal stimulus money. Governor Crist and the Florida Energy and Climate Change Commission are the certifying authorities. Florida has certified that the 2009 Supplement to the 2007 Florida Building Code meets or exceeds ASHRAE 90.1-2007. They have further certified that the Florida energy code for north Florida meets or exceeds the IECC 2009 and central and south Florida are within a few points of meeting that standard. Also certified is that Florida’s energy code will meet the referenced standards by the 2010 edition of the Florida Building Code. Funding for energy code training and verification of compliance will be requested.

A statement was made that inadequate resources are available for clarifying the code program criteria and that many people can’t get commercial buildings to pass code.

Adjournment

A motion was made and approved to adjourn the meeting at 10:55 a.m. Unanimous.