Archive for 'Regulatory Changes'

The Curious Case of Dr. X and the Burlingame Green Building Ordinance

Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by Rebecca Firestone.

“People don’t understand the impact of ‘beyond compliance’ and what it requires,” said Mark English, as we were discussing Title 24 energy compliance for various types of custom home designs and remodels. “They don’t understand the difficulty of getting even very small additions to comply – and if they have to meet local green building ordinances that require exceeding Title 24 by 15% or more, it’s even more challenging.”

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QII HERS Credit Now Allows Open Cell Spray Foam

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Rebecca Firestone.

This news flash about a seemingly obscure topic is of immediate importance to all our architect Title 24 clients -and it’s good news for a change. The Quality of Insulation Installation credit is a HERS test that can help design projects to achieve Title 24 energy compliance, and we’ve had a couple of nasty surprises with it in the past.

Apparently, up until around yesterday, the California Energy Commission did not officially recognize the QII test as valid for open-cell spray foam. Our insulation expert James Morshead of SDI Insulation actually sent me an urgent email yesterday with the news, saying:

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CalCERTS Registry Now Required for All Residential Projects

Posted on 15. Sep, 2011 by Rebecca Firestone.

As most of our readers now know, California’s energy code got a lot stricter in January of 2010. Increasingly, HERS tests are required to comply, even for custom residential projects. HERS tests are special third-party field inspections for things like ductwork, insulation, and air-conditioner efficiency. These tests are called out on the Title 24 energy compliance report, also known as the CF-1R. This energy report must be included on all Building Department submittals statewide throughout California to obtain a building permit. The energy report is then reviewed as part of the plan check process.

And now, a new requirement, or really an old one that’s just now being enforced: All CF-1R reports that call for a HERS test must be officially “registered”. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Plan checkers are starting to kick back custom residential submittals if they don’t see a CalCERTS watermark on the energy report.

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New Solar Homes Partnership – Know the Process

Posted on 05. Jan, 2011 by Rebecca Firestone.

In the past year or so, we had a few Title 24 clients who were interested in rebates from the New Solar Homes Partnership, an initiative offered through public utilities in the State of California. Since writing our earlier post we have discovered just how complicated a process this is, even more so now with the new Title 24 HERS reporting requirements. It really pays to plan ahead.

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Title 24 2008 New Requirements

Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

I know we’ve published several of these, but this is updated to show more specifics. These are the requirements that will be in effect when the new 2008 Title 24 goes “live” in January 2010.

These requirements reference two compliance methods, a prescriptive method and a performance method. The prescriptive method is simpler but offers less flexibility, whereas the performance method uses a software modeling program with a detailed series of inputs that can be modified to test various trade-offs. We at Green Compliance Plus use the performance method.

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Title 24 Will Require HERS Ratings On Nearly All Projects

Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by Alan Huguenot, CEPE.

The 2008 Title 24 requirements, which will become effective in January of 2010, will now require both HERS verification and electronic document filing and registration for all Title 24 documents, including the following:

• The CF-1R Certificate of Compliance, which completed and signed by both the Title 24 Document Author and the Architect
• The CF-6R Installation Certificate, completed by the installing contractor
• The CF-4R Certificate of Field Verification and Diagnostic Testing, completed by the HERS Rater

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Title 24 2008 Reprieve!

Posted on 30. Jun, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

Those of you with T24s in process or coming up soon might like to know that the California Energy Commission has pushed back the Title 24 2008 rollout to January of 2010. We’ve been telling all our Title 24 clients to get their designs in before August 1, but the California Energy Commission needs the extra time to ensure that the approved modeling software packages are fully updated. Use this time to refine your designs and still get in under the “easier 2005″ compliance regulations. Here’s the official notice.

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New Title 24 is 15% Stricter

Posted on 11. Jun, 2009 by Alan Huguenot, CEPE.

EVERYTHING CHANGES AUGUST FIRST: The new 2008 Title 24, which becomes mandatory after August 1, 2009, is 15% more stringent than the 2005 version was, and also creates a whole new set of electronic filing requirements.

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