GANA voices industry's objections to ASHRAE 90.1 Committee

Representatives from Glass Association of North America, Topeka,Kan.,attended last week's meeting of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers 90.1 Committee in Albuquerque, N.M., according to a June 29 release.Urmilla Sowell, GANA's technical director and Tom Culp, energy code consultant for GANA and the Aluminum Extruders Council, Wauconda, Ill., spoke to the committee at length about a proposed 30 percentwindow-to-wall ratio limit included in the standard, as well as other items.

"We presented our concerns regarding the 30 percentWWR limit, lack of connection between the Visible Transmittance/Solar Heat Gain Coefficient requirement and lighting controls, U-factor and SHGC criteria inconsistent with the National Buildings Institute proposal to the International Energy Conservation Code, and the lack of glazing representation," Culp said in the release. "There were also presentations from other groups objecting to some of the wall and metal building requirements."

"The presentations were well received, but it did not change the outcome," Culp said in the release.The vote to accept the proposal was 33-5-2. The committee then heard a proposal to increase the WWR ratio to 40 percentwith daylighting controls.

"The committee voted on final publication of this other addendum with 'knowledge of unresolved objections,'" Culp said in the release. "This time, the objections came from some of the envelope subcommittee members, but to no avail. Ironically, the vote was also 33-5-2." With opposing proposals included in the standard, the future might lead to a murky conclusion.

"Both addenda will move forward for final approval by a few overseeing committees and the ASHRAE board of directors," Culp said in the release. "This is expected to happen at the end of July. There is a small chance one or the other could be rejected, but this is very uncommon. Therefore, pending any successful appeals, the 2010 version of ASHRAE 90.1 would include both aspects: a prescriptive limit of 30 percentWWR, but also the prescriptive option to use 40percentWWR with daylighting controls. Larger glass areas would have to use the performance path." The result would leave glazing manufacturers with a success.

"Although the added controls are expensive and may limit use of this option, this is a significant achievement," Culp said in the release. "This gives us more options, and also sets a precedent that more glass is not “always bad”, preventing any further reductions in glass area in the future."

ASHRAE named Sowell as consultant to the Envelope Subcommittee, a non-voting position which allows her to participate freely in subcommittee discussions, as well as Culp as a full voting member of the Envelope Subcommittee and full 90.1 Committee.