by Brianna Crandall — July 17, 2013—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on July 9 published a new rule requiring new federal buildings to meet higher energy efficiency standards. The rule applies to buildings for which design begins on or after one year after publication in the Federal Register, explains the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
The new rule updates the baseline federal commercial standards for 10 CFR part 433 in Section 305 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA) to the 2010 version of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1, which the Energy Department determined would save 18.2 percent more energy in commercial buildings than the 2007 version of Standard 90.1.
ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, I-P Edition, is developed through an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) consensus process that involves industry, building owners, designers, and government. The process includes extensive public review and comment on each change to Standard 90.1, notes the EERE.
