Proposed ASHRAE/ACCA Standard for Energy Audits Open for Comment
Open for public comment until Sept. 19, 2016
ATLANTA — A proposed joint standard from ASHRAE and ACCA that establishes consistent practices for conducting and reporting energy audits is open for an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) public review. ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 211P, Standard for Commercial Building Energy Audits, is open for public comment until Sept. 19, 2016.
Standard 211P defines the procedures required to perform ASHRAE Level 1, 2, and 3 Energy Audits and provides a common scope of work for these audit levels for use by building owners and others as well as establishes standardized industry practices and minimum reporting requirements for the results.
An initial advisory public review (non-ANSI) of the standard that closed in December 2015 resulted in more than 600 comments from some 100 people. Changes made as a result of that review include:
• Expansion of scope to include multifamily residential buildings.
• Modification of requirements for energy auditor qualifications.
• Addition of specific guidance around the energy audit quality control process.
• Improvement of reporting forms for usability.
• Review of reporting formats for compatibility with BuildingSync, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) protocol for transmitting energy audit data with XML files.
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• Addition of optional input guidance for compatibility with DOE’s Asset Score rating approach for existing building assessments.
• Updated procedures guidance to be more audit customer-oriented and include measures for reasons beyond energy-savings benefits.
• Refined guidance around Level 3 procedures.
• Clarified actions for energy auditor vs. what may be supervised.
• Removal of energy efficiency measure recommendations appendix (these are found in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 100-2006, Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings).
• Addition of guidance for Building Energy Model Calibration.
• Edits based on reviewer comments to make the standard more usable, clear, and effective.
ASHRAE first addressed audits in 2004 with its publication Procedures for Commercial Building Energy Audits (1st Edition), which introduced the concept of ASHRAE Level 1, 2, and 3 Energy Audits as a shorthand for designating the depth of an energy audit. That concept is now commonly used in the commercial building sector. In 2011, a second edition, which added guidelines for best practices in energy audits, was published.
To comment or learn more about the proposed standard, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
Publication date: 8/23/2016
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