NGA Publishes New Technical Paper on Energy Conservation Codes

A new Glass Technical Paper—Alignment in U.S. Energy Conservation Codes: ASHRAE 90.1 and the IECC—provides information on the codes’ use as national model codes, and their compliance paths for commercial and residential buildings, both new construction and existing buildings.

The GTP further expands upon prescriptive versus performance path requirements, and how it relates to the increased demands placed on glazing systems to achieve certain stringencies based on evolving climate zone maps. U-factors and solar heat gain coefficients, and an estimation of glazing required, are also charted by climate zone for both commercial and residential vertical fenestration paths.

“In representing the interests of the glazing industry on these various energy code committees, we are always looking into the future—in fact, we are already working on development of codes for 2024 and 2025,” explains Tom Culp, Birch Point Consulting and NGA energy code consultant. “At the same time, it is equally important that we help educate the industry about the results of those efforts as the energy codes and standards are implemented in the real world today, and NGA’s new Glass Technical Paper will be a good resource for the industry.”