Federal energy mandate

[Codegeek]

I'm trying to find some information. To my recollection, there is a federal energy mandate that goes into effect later this year that essentially says that states have to have an energy code adopted. The mandate recognizes the 2012 IECC and the 2010 ASHRAE 90.1 as acceptable compliance options. Is anyone familiar with this?

Thanks.

 

[fatboy]

Have not heard anything on it........we don't have any state codes, but there was State legislation passed years ago that mandated the adoption at the jurisdition level of the minimum of the 2003 IECC.

Wouldn't be surprised if they upped it to at least the 09, in not the 12. It almost passed last year to bump it to the 09.

 

[jpranch]

The federal unfunded mandate is set for 2017. Our Governor wrote a letter to DOE more or less saying Wyoming will not be doing this.

 

[hlfireinspector]

Mississipi has passed a bill mandating min. 2010 ASHRAE 90.

 

[jar546]

The federal unfunded mandate is set for 2017. Our Governor wrote a letter to DOE more or less saying Wyoming will not be doing this.

Maybe Wyoming should secede too while they're at it. That will affect government grants tremendously if they don't comply.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Oklahoma has also "ingnored" the federal energy mandates; and Texas sure is not going to let the Feds run their state. The Federal Administration has already thrown out the Constitution; and states rights have been deminished through the use of federal funding programs. They can keep their worthless federal money. What China doesn't own of our federal debt, Japan does. Crap, you got me on a rant; and I was having such a nice day.

Uncle Bob

 

[Codegeek]

Crap, you got me on a rant; and I was having such a nice day. Uncle Bob

Sorry. :-(

I hear what you're saying though.

 

[Uncle Bob]

CodeGeek,

I haven't read the whole thing yet; but it seems to be regular updates from the Fed.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/overview_policy_mandates.pdf

Hope this helps,

Uncle Bob

 

[rogerpa]

What you are referring to is ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) of 2009 passed by the 111th congress.

SEC. 410. ADDITIONAL STATE ENERGY GRANTS. (a) IN GENERAL.— Amounts appropriated under the heading ‘‘Department of Energy—Energy Programs—Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’’ in this title shall be available to the Secretary of Energy for making additional grants under part D of title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.). The Secretary shall make grants under this section in excess of the base allocation established for a State under regulations issued pursuant to the governor of the recipient State notifies the Secretary of Energy in writing that the governor has obtained necessary assurances that each of the following will occur: (1) The applicable State regulatory authority will seek to implement, in appropriate proceedings for each electric and gas utility, with respect to which the State regulatory authority has rate making authority, a general policy that ensures that utility financial incentives are aligned with helping their customers use energy more efficiently and that provide timely cost recovery and a timely earnings opportunity for utilities associated with cost-effective measurable and verifiable efficiency savings, in a way that sustains or enhances utility customers’ incentives to use energy more efficiently. (2) The State, or the applicable units of local government that have authority to adopt building codes, will implement the following: (A) A building energy code (or codes) for residential buildings that meets or exceeds the most recently published International Energy Conservation Code, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings. (B) A building energy code (or codes) for commercial buildings throughout the State that meets or exceeds the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1–2007*, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings. © A plan for the jurisdiction achieving compliance with the building energy code or codes described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) within 8 years of the date of enactment of this Act in at least 90 percent of new and renovated residential and commercial building space. Such plan shall include active training and enforcement programs and measurement of the rate of compliance each year.* Emphasis added.

Since the federal government CANNOT mandate that the states adopt an energy code, included in this Act is the "carrot" requirement that if the states adopt a plan to achieve energy conservation levels of the (2009) IECC or equivalent for residential and ASHRAE 90.1-2007 for commercial buildings additional funding for "energy" related projects is made available. These funds cannot be used to fill "budget holes".The "requirement" only applies to 2009 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2007.Michigan pi$$ed away $250,000.00 installing solar panels at 3 rest areas. Even if the projected annual savings of $4,375.00 is actually realized, it will take 57+ years to payback the "investment". The inverters have a stated life of 20 years???FWIW, I have visited the Seney installation at least 5 times in the past 2 years and "the lobby kiosk that will display real-time information about energy savings" has never been functioning.View attachment 794

View attachment 795

Roland-Risser_RE_-ARRA-and-the-2009-IECC-1.pdf

MDOT - MDOT awards contract to Cascade Renewable Energy to reduce energy costs at three Michigan.pdf

Roland-Risser_RE_-ARRA-and-the-2009-IECC-1.pdf

MDOT - MDOT awards contract to Cascade Renewable Energy to reduce energy costs at three Michigan.pdf

 

[jpranch]

rogerpa, excellent post. Thank you.

 

[conarb]

Solar panels are failing all over the place:

"]¶ LOS ANGELES — The solar panels covering a vast warehouse roof in the sun-soaked Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles were only two years into their expected 25-year life span when they began to fail."]¶ Coatings that protect the panels disintegrated while other defects caused two fires that took the system offline for two years, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenues.

"]¶ It was not an isolated incident. Worldwide, testing labs, developers, financiers and insurers are reporting similar problems and say the $77 billion solar industry is facing a quality crisis just as solar panels are on the verge of widespread adoption.

"]¶ No one is sure how pervasive the problem is. There are no industrywide figures about defective solar panels. And when defects are discovered, confidentiality agreements often keep the manufacturer’s identity secret, making accountability in the industry all the more difficult.

"]¶ But at stake are billions of dollars that have financed solar installations, from desert power plants to suburban rooftops, on the premise that solar panels will more than pay for themselves over a quarter century.¹

Carter put them on the White house and they all failed, now I see Obama is putting them back.

After nearly three years, the White House began installing solar panels on the First Family’s residence this week, a White House official confirmed Thursday.The Obama administration had pledged in October 2010 to put solar panels on the White House as a sign of the president’s commitment to renewable energy.

The White House official, who asked not to be identified because the installation is in process, wrote in an e-mail the project is “a part of an energy retrofit that will improve the overall energy efficiency of the building.”²

I assume Carter's panels were solar thermal and Obama's are PV, I built a home in 1984 with a hillside covered with terraces and racks of solar thermal panels, maintenance was horribly expensive and they never worked, at 10 years the owner was told they had reached their service life and had to be replaced, he tore them off and planted fruit trees on the terraces we cut for them.

¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/business/energy-environment/solar-powers-dark-side.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=earth&

² White House solar panels being installed this week

 

[Mech]

FWIW, I have visited the Seney installation at least 5 times in the past 2 years and "the lobby kiosk that will display real-time information about energy savings" has never been functioning.

The counter would have been going backwards - showing how much MORE the solar energy is costing.:lol:

 

[BSSTG]

Oklahoma has also "ingnored" the federal energy mandates; and Texas sure is not going to let the Feds run their state. The Federal Administration has already thrown out the Constitution; and states rights have been deminished through the use of federal funding programs. They can keep their worthless federal money. What China doesn't own of our federal debt, Japan does. Crap, you got me on a rant; and I was having such a nice day. Uncle Bob

thanks Uncle Bob. I needed that.

BS

 

[Glenn Lasher]

I'm new to this forum, but have a question regarding updating of ASHRAE 90.1-2010 to include inserting the published errata and addenda in the appropriate locations within the main PDF document. It appears the errata and addenda are provided only as stand-alone documents and never inserted into the text of the main document until the next version (e.g. 90.1-2013) is published.

Is this correct? If so, it seems to impose a huge burden on architects, engineers and code officials who are obligated to comply (or review for compliance) with the 90.1-2010 standard. The addenda are published highlighting the changes made (showing strikeout of text to be deleted and underlining of new text), but the changes never are included in the body of the main document. I've downloaded both the 2012 and 2013supplements for 90.1-2010 (totaling 334 pages of addenda) and can't imagine how much time would be required to add the changes contained in those supplements to the main 90.1-2010 document. In my opinion, the current process doesn't allow users to have a usable, up-to-date copy of the standard available at reasonable cost.

Is there source for ASHRAE standards that actually insert the errata and addenda changes into the main document as those errata and addenda are published?

I'd appreciate any comments.

 

[Mark K]

Architects and engineers only need to comply with the version of ASHRAE 90.1-2010 that was adopted by the agency that has jurisdiction for the particular project. If the jurisdiction whishes to adopt the addenda, and arguably the errata, they have to specifically do so. This means they have to list the specific addenda after that addenda has been issued. The jurisdiction cannot adopt versions of a standard that has not been published. So unless the jurisdiction has not done so the architects, engineers, and code officials do not need to worry.

 

[Glenn Lasher]

Thanks, Mark K for your response. I'll look into what addenda, if any, were specifically adopted by the New York Department of State.