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insulated walls between conditioned and unconditioned space

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Nicole Brooks

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Sep 21, 2018
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67
Location
Baltimore
This project is in Jacksonville Florida, so governing code is the 2020 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 7th Edition.

I have a tenant that is located in the middle of a single story industrial flex building. The tenant separation walls are 1hr rated (to underside of deck) with an R-19 insulation. The tenant space is divided into warehouse and office. Does the wall separating the office and warehouse need to go to deck? We have a third party reviewing the drawings for permit, and they are saying it is required, but the contractor we are using is saying that they have never had to provide a full height insulated wall to meet the energy code before. The permit review company is citing C402.2.1 Roof assembly: The minimum thermal resistance of the insulating material installed either between the roof framing or continuously on the roof assembly shall be specified in Table C402.1.3, based on construction materials used in the roof assembly. Insulation installed on a suspended ceiling having removable ceiling tiles shall not be considered as part of the minimum thermal resistance of the roof insulation. Continuous insulation board shall be installed in not less than 2 layers and the edge joints between each layer of insulation shall be staggered.

The shell building meets the requirement of table C402.1.3 with insulation entirely above deck at an R-25ci, but the walls are tilt and the owner forewent the insulated panels. I will run the energy calcs with Comcheck, and maybe that will the proof in the pudding, but does anyone know of any specific code requirement that requires insulated walls between conditioned and unconditioned space?
 
Chapter 5 of the energy code should be used. If the entire tenant space was conditioned initially and is now converted to unconditioned space, then Chapter 5 does not address that situation. If the building envelope of the existing structure complied with the energy code when it was constructed, then it is compliant, and anything that happens within that building envelope is irrelevant. If someone decides not to cool or heat their warehouse, that is an operational issue and not a building or energy code issue. However, if the building was initially considered a low-energy building and conditioned space is being added, compliance with the energy code is required.

Regarding C402.2.1, if they construct joists with insulation and decking over the office space that meets the criteria for a roof, then that is the roof of the office space. Nowhere in the definition of a roof assembly does it state that it separates the exterior from the interior. Although the code says what a roof assembly includes, not all roof assemblies (even those that do separate the exterior from the interior) have all of those components that are listed (e.g., many buildings do not have interior finishes at the roof or vapor retarders if the location does not need them).
 
RLGA said:
Chapter 5 of the energy code should be used. If the entire tenant space was conditioned initially and is now converted to unconditioned space, then Chapter 5 does not address that situation. If the building envelope of the existing structure complied with the energy code when it was constructed, then it is compliant, and anything that happens within that building envelope is irrelevant. If someone decides not to cool or heat their warehouse, that is an operational issue and not a building or energy code issue. However, if the building was initially considered a low-energy building and conditioned space is being added, compliance with the energy code is required.

Regarding C402.2.1, if they construct joists with insulation and decking over the office space that meets the criteria for a roof, then that is the roof of the office space. Nowhere in the definition of a roof assembly does it state that it separates the exterior from the interior. Although the code says what a roof assembly includes, not all roof assemblies (even those that do separate the exterior from the interior) have all of those components that are listed (e.g., many buildings do not have interior finishes at the roof or vapor retarders if the location does not need them).
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The building is brand new. The shell of the building never met the energy code, the owner intended to meet it with each individual tenant as the space was leased up. I understand that the energy code is written as a prescriptive method of meeting the intent of the code. The building owner does not want to build 24' high walls to enclose the office for a user that may only be there a few years. In the code mentioned above it says you can't use lay-in insulation above the act grid to meet the minimum requirements, but if I did calculations based on performance and everything came out, that would be allowed, correct?
 
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