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Front door orientation for energy compliance

Bryant

Registered User
Joined
Dec 19, 2018
Messages
116
Location
Virginia
interestingly enough are all things energy conservation minded, but I can not find a section or reference material indicating when the IRC requires the front door orientation to be indicated, compass wise, for any form of energy compliance. Looking at the prescriptive requirements of 2015 IRC 402 (N1102), nothing stands out, including footnotes to require the front door orientation to be indicated.
Not having chased this down to a manual J, so I am not sure if there is something there requiring door oreintation be identified, but maybe there is.
anybody know what drives this?
thanks
 
Zoning maybe, if it has a street in front that's the front, if alley that's rear here. Nothing about the door having to face the street. We have the home addressed on the street side weather the door is there or not.
 
I think Bryant is confusing the 'Energy Code' with the 'Green Code', many Green Codes require front doors with porches so people can sit on the porches and 'commune' with their neighbors, they also want glass in their front doors so people can see in and out, it's all part of 'communitarianism' in the coming green utopia, most of these requirements aren't mandatory but a designer has to pick and choose from a cafeteria of options to amass the requisite green points to comply, it's not compass related but rather street or community square related, it's also one of the codes driving prices through the roof.
 
I think Bryant is confusing the 'Energy Code' with the 'Green Code', many Green Codes require front doors with porches so people can sit on the porches and 'commune' with their neighbors, they also want glass in their front doors so people can see in and out, it's all part of 'communitarianism' in the coming green utopia, most of these requirements aren't mandatory but a designer has to pick and choose from a cafeteria of options to amass the requisite green points to comply, it's not compass related but rather street or community square related, it's also one of the codes driving prices through the roof.

Our code requires the ability for an occupant to be able to see who they will be opening their door to.

Door orientation is a little heavy handed in any code/law. I could maybe see it in a historic district...
 
Sorry off a few days:rolleyes:
The question is about the orientation for the front door as part of ANY energy requirements, of which I have found nothing to suggest otherwise. But is very apparent on the HVAC design work sheet, (residential) asking for door's orientation on the worksheet). Maybe zoning, but its driven by a design criteria (identify orientation) of which I do not understand what the difference makes. It's not a daylight zone or some other creature of the energy code, unless I am missing something.
Anyway, not loosing any sleep over this, just thought some others may have encountered this...
thanks
 
Sorry off a few days:rolleyes:
The question is about the orientation for the front door as part of ANY energy requirements, of which I have found nothing to suggest otherwise. But is very apparent on the HVAC design work sheet, (residential) asking for door's orientation on the worksheet). Maybe zoning, but its driven by a design criteria (identify orientation) of which I do not understand what the difference makes. It's not a daylight zone or some other creature of the energy code, unless I am missing something.
Anyway, not loosing any sleep over this, just thought some others may have encountered this...
thanks

It is important when designing the HVAC because it impacts the solar heat gain. Just needs taken into account to properly size a system.
 
It is important when designing the HVAC because it impacts the solar heat gain. Just needs taken into account to properly size a system.

Yes, but only if it's a glass front door, a solid wood door doesn't allow solar heat gain, a glass front door is just like another window, and it can admit beneficial or detrimental solar heat gain so orientation does make a difference just like with windows.
 
all fenestration should count. I'm wondering if this is just someone's worksheet they put together and only listed the front door because it is the one that typically has the glass in it.
 
from what i heard the intent was to provide a quick confirmation that the paperwork matches the plan i.e. when building the same house over an over again the calculations reflect the proper orientation of the house.
 
Interesting responses thanks to all!
I would admit that it is a paperwork check with the site plan and the HVAC design worksheet. i can see no practical benifit, unless it was as one posted, a SHG coeffiency, even a wooden door has heat transference capabilities but that is picking apples and oranges in the residential world. For example if using a commerical model, one could trade off R- value and U-factor in that one is a membrane as in layers of a assembly, whereas each piece is quantified (u- factor) and the other spectrum is the coverage of insualtion (r-value) in the spaces. In so far as the res energy code driving this, i can not find it
 
follow up. Most of the HVAC programs follow ACCA for manual J & D thus include in the data the door orientation. But begs the question, if the door is a solid core door with no glazing, what's the point other than a u factor conversion for an R- value?
 
interestingly enough are all things energy conservation minded, but I can not find a section or reference material indicating when the IRC requires the front door orientation to be indicated, compass wise, for any form of energy compliance. Looking at the prescriptive requirements of 2015 IRC 402 (N1102), nothing stands out, including footnotes to require the front door orientation to be indicated.
Not having chased this down to a manual J, so I am not sure if there is something there requiring door oreintation be identified, but maybe there is.
anybody know what drives this?
thanks
It becomes important when modeling a housing tract. The orientation of the front can change based on where the house is plotted. Window values (U-factors, SHGC, and VT) can be different if the front is redirected from original computer run. the easiest way to determine the front is direction door faces.
 
Follow the sun! It rises in the east and wakes you, sets in the west keeping you warm, minimize windows on the south to lower heat gain or use trees and overhangs to control seasonal heat gain/loss, North allows for wind flow depending on prevailing direction to cool house. I am on the south slope of a mountain range with this kind of orientation and have balanced heat gain and loss through most of the year. Was it planned that way back in 05'?, probably not but it sure works. Most subdivisions don't take this into consideration.
 
Follow the sun! It rises in the east and wakes you, sets in the west keeping you warm, minimize windows on the south to lower heat gain or use trees and overhangs to control seasonal heat gain/loss, North allows for wind flow depending on prevailing direction to cool house. I am on the south slope of a mountain range with this kind of orientation and have balanced heat gain and loss through most of the year. Was it planned that way back in 05'?, probably not but it sure works. Most subdivisions don't take this into consideration.

Not always the front door orientated to the sun, we have many houses in a wagon wheel fashion with the rear loaded to the hilt with glazing. Ironically, shades down in the summer, wide open in the winter. Seems to me its a battle of the elements, choosing between being cool all summer along or warm in the winter, preference.
 
interestingly enough are all things energy conservation minded, but I can not find a section or reference material indicating when the IRC requires the front door orientation to be indicated, compass wise, for any form of energy compliance. Looking at the prescriptive requirements of 2015 IRC 402 (N1102), nothing stands out, including footnotes to require the front door orientation to be indicated.
Not having chased this down to a manual J, so I am not sure if there is something there requiring door oreintation be identified, but maybe there is.
anybody know what drives this?
thanks

As far as I can see, Res-Check does not ask, and since its code complaint figure its not needed for the ua trade off. However, since the code requires MJ8, is by reference. Heating loads don't use solar heat gain as we would want the house to reach indoor design on a cloudy day, however cooling loads can be greatly influenced by the direction the windows face. Since not all front door face the front, MJ8 has 2 options, front faces or front door faces.. by it self means nothing. What really matters is that the walls are entered correctly and the direction they face as well. Than windows get assigned to that wall... Now, A HERS ERI also needs to know what direction those windows face, again to determine energy usage for cooling.. If you took a house and spun it (in both software platforms) you could easily see the difference in cooling quite easily. Both require absolute accuracy as a minimum standard. Accurate U and SHGC values need to bule used... Additionally, even more important is window shading. Soffits, porches, decks etc greatly change how many btus of cooling is required
 
As far as I can see, Res-Check does not ask, and since its code complaint figure its not needed for the ua trade off. However, since the code requires MJ8, is by reference. Heating loads don't use solar heat gain as we would want the house to reach indoor design on a cloudy day, however cooling loads can be greatly influenced by the direction the windows face. Since not all front door face the front, MJ8 has 2 options, front faces or front door faces.. by it self means nothing. What really matters is that the walls are entered correctly and the direction they face as well. Than windows get assigned to that wall... Now, A HERS ERI also needs to know what direction those windows face, again to determine energy usage for cooling.. If you took a house and spun it (in both software platforms) you could easily see the difference in cooling quite easily. Both require absolute accuracy as a minimum standard. Accurate U and SHGC values need to bule used... Additionally, even more important is window shading. Soffits, porches, decks etc greatly change how many btus of cooling is required



Welcome,

We wait to see your vast knowledge, in helping us.
 
As far as I can see, Res-Check does not ask, and since its code complaint figure its not needed for the ua trade off. However, since the code requires MJ8, is by reference. Heating loads don't use solar heat gain as we would want the house to reach indoor design on a cloudy day, however cooling loads can be greatly influenced by the direction the windows face. Since not all front door face the front, MJ8 has 2 options, front faces or front door faces.. by it self means nothing. What really matters is that the walls are entered correctly and the direction they face as well. Than windows get assigned to that wall... Now, A HERS ERI also needs to know what direction those windows face, again to determine energy usage for cooling.. If you took a house and spun it (in both software platforms) you could easily see the difference in cooling quite easily. Both require absolute accuracy as a minimum standard. Accurate U and SHGC values need to bule used... Additionally, even more important is window shading. Soffits, porches, decks etc greatly change how many btus of cooling is required

Interesting concept ! There is a house, actually looking from my advantage point where the entire rear of the house faces south. With all the glazing on the rear, and I mean a lot of windows and doors, I can only imagine how much energy it would take to keep it cool. Flipping to the other extreme, seems in winter, they would gain massive amounts solar radiation to offset the heating bill, though I see the blinds closed to keep out the blinding sun permeating thru the house, blindness vs. warmth....
 
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