Max Sherman, who chairs the Presidential Ad Hoc Committee on the Residential Construction Market that developed the report, noted that one of the first questions the group explored was “What is residential?”

He noted that in the United States, residential is often associated with single-family homes. This association is evident in the division in scopes between the International Residential Code and the International Building Code and between the scopes of ASHRAE standards related to IAQ and energy. Additionally, multifamily construction often seems to fall through the cracks and is not adequately addressed in either current residential or nonresidential standards, he said.

Sherman said the exploration into residential began under the guidance of 2013-14 ASHRAE President Bill Bahnfleth. The committee looked at the importance of the residential sector, what ASHRAE is already doing in the residential sector, and how ASHRAE’s role is viewed in the residential market. As part of that, a workshop for key stakeholders was held earlier in the year.

Sherman said that their research showed the residential sector is of growing importance.

Studies show there were over 115 million dwellings in the United States (217 million in the European Union) in 2010. The projection is that by 2030 this number will grow to about 141 million in the United States (241 million in the European Union). Given that number is increasing, energy efficiency needs to increase as well. ASHRAE said it can play a significant role in the efforts to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact of the global building stock.

“Over 74 percent of all existing homes in the United States were constructed before 1989 — before widespread adoption of model energy codes governing their construction,” Sherman said. “More than 40 percent of the European residential buildings have been constructed before the 1960s when energy building regulations were very limited. By almost any measure, most of these homes are likely under-insulated, have poorly performing fenestration, have significant envelope air leakage, need upgrades to all HVACR components and delivery systems, and contain outdated and inefficient lighting systems when compared to today’s basic energy code minimums. In addition, we need to treat these homes as systems that provide good indoor environmental quality for people. These needs define significant opportunity for energy, carbon, peak power, and water savings within the residential sector.”

Sherman said the group found that while ASHRAE has extensive technical abilities in the residential area, it is far from the dominant player. He noted the organization’s involvement requires not only focusing the efforts of its own volunteers but collaborating with existing stakeholders.

The report contains several recommendations to the ASHRAE board of directors. Some have already been acted upon and the rest have been referred to appropriate bodies in the organization. The report and additional information can be found at www.ashrae.org/residential.

The recommendations are designed to raise the priority of residential activity within ASHRAE by increasing the visibility of existing work in that area and by providing additional resources for future work. ASHRAE will support residential through actions including the likely formation of a new standing committee. It also plans to involve more residential stakeholders and include more residential content in its research, programs, standards, and publications.

Phoenix said that the move into residential also is part of its newly adopted strategic plan under an initiative that addresses ASHRAE’s role in the residential sector. The plan notes that ASHRAE will create partnerships and collaboration with key organizations in the residential sector.

“Together we look forward to working with new partners to develop technology, perform research, and educate owners, builders, and designers to improve the residential built environment,” he said.

For more information, visit www.ashrae.org.

Publication date: 9/22/2014

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