NEW NATIONAL ENERGY CODE
combined hot water systems , power distribution components and motors .
“ The energy code requirements will not only affect our designs , but also our design process ,” says Kelsey Chegus , a building science consultant with Williams Engineering . Chegus says the co-ordination among the designs of walls , roofs and mechanical systems will become vital .
“ I believe it will really shift us towards a more integrated approach in our designs . We ’ ll need more communication as a team earlier on in the design process . We ’ ll have to make energy efficiency a priority in the early stages of design , all the way through .”
One of the most important aspects of the new requirements is the flexibility with compliance they provide engineers , architects and designers . The new requirements give guidance while still allowing design teams to explore multiple options .
Both the NECB and ABC 9.36 offer a design team a choice of three compliance paths : prescriptive , trade-off and performance modelling .
The prescriptive path requires meeting all requirements outlined in the code . It is typically the simplest compliance path to follow , but may not be appropriate for all buildings .
The trade-off path allows for more flexibility in your design , allowing you to trade elements within a portion of the design , like the building envelope , so the overall performance is equal or better to the prescriptive path without meeting every prescriptive element found in the code .
The performance compliance path provides the most design flexibility . You must demonstrate that your proposed design will not consume more energy than an equivalent building built to prescriptive requirements . This path is the most complex , and requires the use of a computer simulation , but offers significantly more design freedom .
“ Following these requirements will incur a small cost to builders ,” says Pockar . “ We are not naive to the difficulty that changes like this present . We ’ ve really tried to go out of our way to help builders adopt these new standards . We ’ ve put together web information for both commercial and residential buildings on what the standards are and how to comply . We ’ ve tried to instill a sense of flexibility and to provide paths to painless compliance .”
Chegus says that she thinks Albertans should be asking for more , looking beyond energy code compliance .
“ I believe it can drive innovation in the industry as a whole ,” she says . •
To learn more , visit http :// www . municipalaffairs . alberta . ca / CP _ Energy _ Codes _ Information
Jennifer Atkinson is a communications analyst with the City of Calgary ’ s Planning & Development department .
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