The following letter was received from ENERGY STAR® in regards to the changes coming in Revision 08 on July 1, 2016.
Dear ENERGY STAR® Partners and Stakeholders,
Since the release of Revision 08 last July, the response from our partners has been very enthusiastic. As partners prepare for full implementation of Rev. 08 for all homes permitted on or after July 1, 2016, we wanted to share several updates.
First, as many partners have already discovered, the HVAC Design Report has now been integrated into Wrightsoft. This exciting development means that HVAC designers who use this program can now print out the Rev. 08 HVAC Design Report with the click of a few buttons, rather than completing the report by hand. And, we’re continuing to work with other major HVAC design programs to enable similar functionality.
Second, several changes, clarifications, and refinements have been made in response to partner questions since last July. The most significant of these are summarized below and are allowed to be applied immediately to any home not yet certified. For more detail, please see the full Policy Record entries, which are available online at www.energystar.gov/newhomespolicyrecord. These edits will also be reflected in the program documents with the release of the next Revision.
HVAC Design Report
- Change (Policy Record #00585): The heating over-sizing limit in Item 4.21 for furnaces paired with cooling will be increased from 200% to 400% to reflect the limited product availability that meets the ACCA Manual S over-sizing limit in cooling dominated climates. While designers are encouraged to meet ACCA Manual S limits whenever possible, this higher threshold will provide needed flexibility to meet program requirements.
- Clarification (Policy Record #00555): So as not to increase the stringency of Rev. 08 relative to Rev. 07, only Sections 1 (Design Overview) and 2 (Whole-House Mechanical Ventilation Design) will be required to be completed for exempted system types. This clarification will be reflected in a new paragraph added to Footnote 1.
Rater Design Review Checklist
- Change (Policy Record #00583): The tolerance in Item 4.2.3 will be changed to allow the conditioned floor area used in loads to fall between 100 sq. ft smaller and 300 sq. ft. larger than the home to be certified. This change recognizes that if the conditioned floor area used in the loads is slightly smaller than the home to be certified, the overall accuracy of the load will not be greatly compromised.
Rater Field Checklist
- Refinement (Policy Record #00584): The distance that ventilation air inlets must be from dryer exhausts was inadvertently left out during the transition to Revision 08. Consistent with the policy in Rev. 07, Item 7.7.2 will be revised to clarify that air inlets must be ≥ 3 ft. from dryer exhausts.
Finally, to help you succeed, DOE’s Building America Solutions Center has been updated to reflect Rev. 08. By visiting https://basc.pnnl.gov/checklists/energy-star-certified-homes-version-331-revision-08, you’ll gain access to a wealth of information about the program requirements, from overviews to training images.
Thank you for your support of the ENERGY STAR program.