The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has approved a project to help specifying engineers and designers use building data to improve building operations, energy efficiency, comfort, and sustainability. Research Project 1633, "Data and Interfaces for Advanced Building Maintenance and Operation," is expected to yield a set of standard data-driven metrics, interfaces, and dashboards for advanced building operation and management.
It was one of three projects totaling $430,000 approved by ASHRAE at its 2011 Winter Conference. The 1633 project is sponsored by Technical Committee 1.4, Control Theory and Application, and co-sponsored by 7.6, Building Energy Performance, and TC 7.9, Building Commissioning, and was awarded to Cambridge, Mass.-based KGS Buildings.
“Analyzing and interpreting building performance data is critical to the success of high-performance buildings,” said Stephen Samouhos, a principal investigator. “This research will help fill a void in standards literature by establishing data-driven metrics, interfaces, and dashboards, organized by building type, that clearly quantify and communicate building performance to a diverse set of building stakeholders.”
The other two projects approved at the Winter Conference are:
- 1580-RP, “Study of Input Parameters for Risk Assessment of 2L Flammable Refrigerants in Residential Air Conditioning and Small Commercial Refrigeration Applications,” sponsored by TC 3.1, Refrigerants and Secondary Coolants and awarded to Navigant Consulting Inc.
- 1613-RP, “Update Climatic Design Data in Chapter 14 of the 2013 Handbook, Fundaments,” sponsored by TC 4.2, Climatic Information and awarded to Numerical Logistics Inc.
ASHRAE Announces New Guidance
In other news, ASHRAE earlier this month announced that the newest guidance for using Standard 62.1-2010 includes a revised, “user-friendly” spreadsheet and examples as well as the latest updates pertaining to the new version of the standard.
The 62.1 User's Manual provides explanatory material, detailed information, figures, and examples to guide users in designing, installing, and operating buildings in accordance with ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, which sets minimum ventilation rates and other requirements for commercial and institutional buildings.
Also highlighted is the application of useful tools used for compliance with Standard 62.1-2010, including a newly revised spreadsheet that assists in Ventilation Rate Procedure calculations. The spreadsheet provides calculations for the multiple spaces procedure and has been significantly improved, made more user friendly, and now includes two example spreadsheets focusing on cooling and heating, according to ASHRAE.
“The spreadsheet and new examples have been revised in response to user feedback and have much improved usability,” said Roger Hedrick, chair of the Standard 62.1 Committee. “The spreadsheet should significantly reduce the effort needed to perform the calculations needed for multizone recirculating systems. The spreadsheets are a must-have for designers.”
The manual encourages users of the standard to apply the principles of good indoor air quality and effective ventilation when designing buildings and building systems, and provides reference material to assist designers in completing a compliant design.
