Proposed change to ASHRAE Standard encourages efficient fan design.
Press Release Summary:
Open for advisory public review until July 10, 2011, proposed addendum u to ASNI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, would add reference to Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA) International's Standard 205-10, Energy Efficiency Classification for Fans. This would require fan efficiency requirements to be classified based on fan efficiency grades.
Original Press Release:
Changes to Fan Efficiency Requirements Proposed for ASHRAE, IES Energy Standard
ATLANTA - A proposed change to ASHRAE and IES's energy standard currently open for public input would encourage advancement of efficient fan design.
Proposed addendum u to ASNI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, would add a reference to the Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA) International's Standard 205-10, Energy Efficiency Classification for Fans. This would require fan efficiency requirements to be classified based on fan efficiency grades.
"Currently, the standard only regulates fan power at the system design level," Ned Heminger, chair of the Standard 90.1's Mechanical Subcommittee, said. "In other words, the amount of fan power allowed in a system is based on the system maximum airflow rate. However, the standard does not set requirements for the manufacturers of fans. As a result, there is a wide range of fan efficiencies available on the market. When the current prescriptive requirements were set for fan power, the fan efficiency chosen was achievable by most fans currently available at the time. Developing a fan efficiency metric that applies to the manufacturing of fans will encourage the advancement of efficient fan design. As fan efficiency increases, fan power needs decrease. This allows the standard to improve on the fan power limits in the future. The proposed addendum has set the initial efficiency bar at a level that is achieved by most fans, with assistance from ASHRAE technical committee 5.1, Fan Design and Application. The intention is to work with TC 5.1 to increase the efficiency requirements for fans in future versions of the standard."
He also noted that the proposed addendum was issued utilizing ASHRAE's advisory public review option available to solicit feedback from the industry. This was done at the recommendation of committee members to better understand the impact to the industry as the standard is proposing compliance with a new certification standard. The committee recognizes the importance of constructive feedback from the industry and looks forward to hearing their suggestions. Unlike comments received through ASHRAE's formal call for public comments process, comments received on advisory public reviews are considered opportunities for constructive input from interested and materially affected parties into the development of proposed language that will be issued for official public review and need not be resolved or formally acted on by the project committee.
Addendum u is open for advisory public review until July 10, 2011, along with five other proposed addenda open for public review. Nine proposed addenda to the standard are open for public review until July 25, 2011. For more information, visit ashrae.org/publicreviews.
Other addenda out for review until July 10, 2011 are:
Addenda out for public review until July 25, 2011 are:
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.