ATLANTA – The team that brought you the national standard for energy efficiency in commercial buildings has joined together to help homes attain higher levels of energy performance.

ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) are working together to strengthen requirements in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 90.2, Energy Efficient Design of Low-Rise Residential Buildings. Previously, the standard was developed only by ASHRAE and was first published in 1993.

Standard 90.2 provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of residential buildings. Last year, ASHRAE’s Board of Directors recommended to the Standard 90.2 committee that it consider a goal of writing the standard so that it is 30 percent more efficient than the 2004 version, including both a prescriptive and a performance path.

The standard would target home builders and code officials in an easy-to-understand format that is simple to use. The committee plans to have an advisory public review of the standard later this year to determine whether proposed changes are meeting the needs of the audience.

“ASHRAE is honored and proud to have IES as a co-sponsor of Standard 90.2,” ASHRAE President Lynn G. Bellenger said. “The partnership between ASHRAE and IES originated 35 years ago when we joined together to create the first building energy conservation standard, ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90-1975, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The partnership has flourished as we’ve collaborated on updates to that standard and created Advanced Energy Design Guides. Now, as we focus on the residential market, whose 107 million housing units consume 22 percent of the primary energy in the U.S., we have the opportunity once again to define the actions needed to make energy conservation our ‘first fuel.’ By identifying ways for this major market to reduce energy use and costs, we serve the public and increase our energy security.”

“The opportunity to be a cosponsor with ASHRAE on this standard continues the long standing and successful partnership on a trilogy of standards addressing energy conservation – Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings, Standard 100, Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings, and now 90.2 dealing with efficient design of low-rise residential buildings,”Rita M. Harrold, IESdirector of technology, said. “IES will contribute expertise in providing ways to achieve energy savings through lighting in this important market segment that consumes approximately 212 billion kWh per year, or approximately 15 percent of residential electricity consumption. The challenge here will be to achieve savings while still providing a quality environment to satisfy occupant needs.”