Industry to appeal ASHRAE 90.1; proposes changes to Building Star

Standards dominated discussionat the Energy Committee meeting March 27 during Glass Week, hosted by the Glass Association of North America, Topeka, Kan. The 2010 version of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers 90.1, the Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, limits the window to wall ratio to 30 percent, down from 40 percent. Joint efforts in the glass industry to come to a compromise that takes into account the benefits of daylighting were rejected, said Tom Culp, president, Birch Point Consulting LLC, La Crosse, Wis., and energy code consultant for GANA. Read a full-length article about the revisions and appeals. “We have a task group to prepare an appeal,” Culp said. The appeal will take place sometime this summer and is supported by several major industry companies and the industry trade organizations, including GANA, the American Architectural Manufacturers Association, Schaumburg, Ill.; the Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance, Ottawa, Ontario; and the National Glass Association, McLean, Va. While the industry is facing hurtles with the ASHRAE standard, a new incentive program, Building Star, that is moving through Congress could offer notable opportunities, said Bill Yanek, GANA executive vice president, during the meeting. GANA has been working with the Aluminum Extruders Council, Wauconda, Ill., AAMA, IGMA and NGA to make recommendations to the Building Star program promoting the benefits of glass and glazing in building energy performance. “We have a real shot at influencing this in a positive way,” Yanek said.