The Bay Area Regional Energy Network’s Codes and Standards Regional Forum was held this week, bringing together local government policymakers and sustainability staff, building department staff, city planners, and energy consultants to learn about the changes to the 2016 building Energy Efficiency Standards for residential and nonresidential buildings. Below are some key points and takeaways, and links to presentations.
Key takeaways:
- 2016 code provides some allowances and flexibility that 2013 code did not – in particular, a new, easier path for non-residential lighting compliance (see Martin Bond’s presentation below).
- Screw-based lighting sockets are now recognized as high-efficacy.
- Instantaneous water heating is now the baseline (with a required isolation valve for period flushing).
- High performance attics are a new requirement
- Direct digital controls (DDC) is now mandatory in buildings with more than 3 zones/300,000 BTU
- Free software for modeling different scenarios is available now on the CEC’s website for both residential and non-residential. CBECC and EnergyPro are both approved and available for 2016; Wrightsoft Right-Energy is also available for residential.
♦ Opening Remarks and Introduction | Kellen Dammann| Marin County & Edgar Ventura | BKi
♦ Keynote Address:
• What’s New with 2016 Code: One Perspective | Martin Bond | Community Energy Services
♦ Presentations:
• 2016 Energy Standards Overview | Javier Perez | California Energy Commission
• Effects of the 2016 Energy Code Changes on Bay Area Building Departments| Russ King | Benningfield Group, Inc.
• Residential Compliance Documents List, Residential Compliance Process Flow Chart, Nonresidential Compliance Process Flow Chart