ASHRAE to launch building energy labeling program

More than 2,800 people attended ASHRAE‘s 2009 Winter Conference, held Jan. 24-28, Chicago. Also taking place in conjunction with the meeting was the Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition, which attracted 54,000 registered visitors and exhibitor personnel.

A major announcement was ASHRAE’s proposed building energy labeling program, which the Society expects to launch at the 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, KY. Uniform metrics are vital to making buildings more energy efficient, according to Ron Jarnagin, chair of the committee overseeing the program, who updated attendees.

The ASHRAE program will include a method for rating the energy performance of buildings covered by Standard 90.1; qualification criteria for raters and assessors; provision of both Asset and Operational ratings to cover both design and operations; and a process for approving alternative methods. It is expected that the labeling requirements will be based on the ENERGY STAR requirements, and then expand beyond.

For more information on the proposal, click here.

Costar Group also has an excellent article published online about the program, here.

Craig DiLouie

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