From the Editor
As many in the facilities and HVAC industries gather in Orlando this week for the annual AHR Expo, there is exciting news to report. Last Friday, after about three-and-a-half years of work, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) published its Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.

ASHRAE touts the new standard as a “total building sustainability package” that complements existing green building rating systems, including LEED. In fact, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) also collaborated on the standard’s development.

Two of ASHRAE’s intentions for the standard are to provide buildings a significant reduction in energy cost over the 90.1-2007 standard and a “significant building water reduction” through improvements in plumbing fixture standards included in the vastly outdated Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Similar to LEED, the standard has six categories: Sustainable Sites; Water Use Efficiency; Energy Efficiency; Indoor Environmental Quality; Building’s Impact on the Atmosphere, Materials and Resources; and Construction and Operations Plans. Because the structure is similar to LEED, some experts have speculated that Standard 189.1 soon will be a prerequisite for LEED.

Standard 189.1 is ANSI-accredited, so don’t be surprised when Standard 189.1 starts to show up in local building codes. That’s ASHRAE’s goal, anyway.

Cheers,

Green Strategies
Ready or Not, Carbon Limits Likely
Few facilities will take a direct hit, but the effects of pending regulations will ripple out to all electricity consumers. Here is what you need to know about impending climate legislation.

In the News
California Passes Green Building Standards Code
The California Building Standards Commission has adopted the first-in-the-nation mandatory Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN), which requires all new buildings to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible.

Green Toolkit
ASHRAE’s Standard 189.1 Page
The page offers an introduction to the new standard, as well as FAQs, a fact sheet, tools, and multimedia resources. Copies of the standard itself may also be purchased here.

GreenTech Conference & Exposition

What’s Your Score? Benchmarking Energy Use through Energy Star

This presentation from GreenTech 2009 by Laurie Gilmer and Gregory Hughel of Facility Engineering Associates provides justification for and tips on how to use Energy Star tools to benchmark and reduce energy use in facilities.

Registration for NFMT 2010 is now open. The show will take place March 16-18, 2010 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Click here to register