Building Codes
Energy Codes
Building Codes
Building codes are in place to provide a means to safeguard life and protect the public welfare through regulating the design, construction practices, construction material quality (including fire performance), location, occupancy, and maintenance of buildings and structures. When regulating materials, many of the model building codes refer to quality standards developed by standard-setting organizations such as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada (ULC). Some building codes and/or insurance rating organizations also rely on test information from Factory Mutual Research (FM), Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) and Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada (ULC).
United States Codes
Polyiso manufacturers create products that meet or exceed all Model Building Codes, including:
- International Building Code
- International Residential Code
Because of continuous improvement in the product and years of rigorous testing, Polyiso offers the most extensive range of code approvals for insulation used in roof systems. It remains the only foam plastic insulation product for direct application to steel deck to earn FM Approval for Class 1 Roof Systems. Polyiso is also classified by UL for use in roof systems with direct-to-steel-deck applications of foam plastic insulation under both single-ply and asphalt-based roof coverings.
For more information on polyiso’s fire safety, please refer to PIMA’s technical bulletins: Fire Performance and Roof Systems, Fire Test Definitions and Class A and Class 1 Roof Systems are Not the Same.
State Building Code Status Link
For information on the status of codes in a given state, please visit the Building Codes Assistance Project website or click here: http://www.bcap-energy.org/node/5.
Canada Codes
Under Canada's constitution, provinces and territories regulate design and construction of new houses and buildings, and the maintenance and operation of fire safety systems in existing buildings. While the model national building, fire and plumbing codes are prepared centrally under the direction of the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, adoption and enforcement of the codes are the responsibility of the provincial and territorial authorities having jurisdiction.
Consult the applicable code in your location.
Useful links:
Canada will also update the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB), which was last revised in 1997. Natural Resources Canada will work with the National Research Council of Canada and the model energy code will be updated for publication in 2011.
Energy Codes
Energy codes and standards set minimum requirements for energy-efficient design and construction for new and renovated buildings that impact energy use and emissions for the life of the building. Building energy codes set a baseline for energy efficiency in new construction by establishing minimum energy efficiency requirements. Improving the energy code generates energy savings in a consistent and long lasting manner.
The Department of Energy has developed a fact sheet on why energy codes are so important – Top Ten Reasons for Energy Codes.
The codes and standards currently being used to specify the the R-value for the wall and roofs of a home or building, and with which you need to be familiar, include:
- ASHRAE STANDARD 90.1
This standard represents the minimum required prescriptive R-value (resistance to heat flow) for roof and wall insulation levels. The R-value requirements for this standard were recently increased by 33% for climate zones 2 through 8. The above-deck roof insulation requirements for those climate zones goes from R-15 to R-20.
For more information, visit www.ashrae.org.
- ASHRAE STANDARD 189 (Proposed)
The proposed ASHRAE Standard 189: Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (February 2008), provides minimum requirements for the design of sustainable buildings to balance environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well-being, and community sensitivity. ASHRAE Standard 189 uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System as a key resource offering a baseline that will drive green building into mainstream building practices.
For more information, visit www.ashrae.org.
- INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE (IECC)
Introduced by the International Code Council (ICC), the IECC is being adopted rapidly by state and local code jurisdictions across the United States. The code incorporates the ASHRAE 90.1-2007 standard, offering both prescriptive and performance-based approaches. IECC contains minimum energy efficiency provisions for residential and commercial buildings and also features building envelope requirements for thermal performance and air leakage. The intent of the IECC is to effectively conserve energy, minimize increases in construction costs, eliminate preferential treatment for particular industries or types of materials and allow for the use of new materials, products or methods of construction.
For more information, visit www.iccsafe.org.
|
