ASHRAE to establish a “backbone” standard for building rating systems

While LEED is the most well known green building rating system in Canada and North America, there are many other building rating systems here and overseas.

Now ASHRAE has set about establishing a minimum standard for such programs. The standard will serve as a “backbone” for different building rating systems, helping building owners and their consultants to understand what the environmental impacts of different systems amount to. It would presumably help guide their selection of which one to use.

The proposed ASHRAE Standard 214P, Standard for Determining and Expressing Building Energy Performance in a Rating Program is open for public comment until September 28. Visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

Wayne Stoppelmoor, chair of the Standard 214P committee, says: “There are many entities that are rating buildings utilizing a number of different building rating systems yielding varying results. Feedback from government and regulatory agencies has shown there is an overwhelming need for a standard that provides uniformity in the building energy labeling and disclosure process. We want to provide a non-commercial consensus standard that can be used in international, national and regional legislation, policy making and regulation activities. The goal is to write a standard that provides guidance for establishing rating systems that produce meaningful and consistent results.”

The standard would establish requirements for:

– The disclosure of building energy use via a rating label and supporting summary documentation.

– Determining and expressing energy use, with metered data, of buildings and building sites that are in operation.

– Acceptable credentialing criteria for individuals applying the standard and reporting building energy use.

– Pre-occupancy (design) and post-occupancy (in operation) conditions.

– The format and content of the rating disclosure, the label and supporting documentation.

It is anticipated that the proposed standard will have minimal impact on existing rating systems.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, has more than 50,000 members and is focused on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability.