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Proposed ASHRAE/ACCA energy audit standard (211P) open for public comment
August 5, 2016 - A proposed joint standard from ASHRAE and the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) that establishes practices for conducting and reporting energy audits is open for an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) public review from August 5 - September 19, 2016.
August 5, 2016 By Renée Francoeur
ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 211P, Standard for Commercial Building Energy Audits, “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 building owners and others, as well as establishing 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, ASHRAE notes. Changes made as a result include:
• Expansion of scope to include multi-family 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 DOE protocol for transmitting energy audit data with XML files;
• Addition of optional input guidance to for compatibility with the 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 versus 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. In 2011, a second edition was published that added guidelines for best practices in energy audits.
To comment or learn more about ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 211P, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.
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