Development and Implications of a Software-Based Residential Energy Conservation Standard

摘要

Development and implications of the recently completed Federal Residential Conservation Standards, uniquely software-based, are described and discussed. By law, the Department of Energy is required to develop and issue energy conservation performance standards for residential buildings. Federal agencies that procure housing will implement the standard. The objectives for the standard were to: (1) provide performance-based requirements; (2) use cost-effectiveness criteria; (3) accommodate local and changing conditions; and (4) maximize ease of use. A software-based format seemed singularly able to achieve these objectives. The program is described and samples of its output are illustrated. Next, issues related to the acceptability of a software-based standard are discussed. Public review and comment should help reveal and evaluate advantages, disadvantages, and potential problems of using a software format for standards, and should help assess the potential for software-based standards in the private sector. (ERA citation 12:013654)