ASHRAE offers energy standards to NFPA

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has agreed to the use of ASHRAE 90.1 and 90.2 within the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA's) Consensus Codes set — currently under development. ASHRAE 90.1 and 90.2 establish criteria for commercial and low-rise residential building energy efficiency.

These documents have been codified by ASHRAE as the "Energy Code for New Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings" and the "Energy Code for New Low-Rise Residential Buildings" respectively. ASHRAE 90.1-1989 has been adopted by the Department of Energy (DOE) as the federal guideline for state energy codes that address energy efficiency in commercial buildings.

"We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with ASHRAE. Their organization brings a vast and nationally recognized knowledge and expertise of energy efficiency issues to its work with NFPA," said George Miller, President and CEO of NFPA. "The adoption of ASHRAE 90.1 by the DOE is a testament to the organization's success."

ASHRAE has a long history of working collaboratively with recognized code organizations to encourage widespread use of ASHRAE documents. "We are pleased to offer NFPA our ASHRAE standards for inclusion in NFPA's Consensus Codes set," said Frank M. Coda, Executive Vice President of ASHRAE. "We support the consensus process and look forward to working with NFPA toward the mutual goal of consistency and ease of use of these requirements."

"Energy efficiency standards are an essential component of any complete code set," said Miller. "A relationship between NFPA and ASHRAE is very beneficial for both organizations, because we share a similar code development philosophy and commitment to consensus. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredits NFPA and ASHRAE code development processes."

Edited by Jerry R. Borland, P.E.
Managing Editor, EC Online