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.

FENESTRATION: The compliance model standard design (the hypothetical building that your design has to meet or beat) has been upgraded such that the fenestration has to have a U-factor of 0.40 for all climate zones except Climate Zone 15, where it has been reduced to 0.35. All fenestration will be required to have both permanent and temporary labels.

ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT FILING: All CF-1R, CF-6R and CF-4R documentation must now be filed online with a HERS Service Provider.

NEW STATE OVERSIGHT REQUIREMENTS: The state will be using these electronic filings to check on building department inspectors.

COOL ROOF SOLAR REFLECTANCE INDEX (SRI): This new measure of a surface’s reflecting ability has been added to the code, along with new requirements for low-sloped and steep-sloped roofs. A steep slope is greater than 2:12 or 9.5 degrees.

NEW COMPLIANCE OPTION CREDITS FOR:

• Zoned heating controls, when using the performance method for Title 24 calculation.
• Distributed energy storage
• Evaporatively cooled condensers
• Evaporative coolers
• Controlled ventilation crawl space
• Cooling coil air flows that exceed prescriptive requirements
• Fan watt draws that are leass than the prescriptive requirement of 0.58 watts per CFM
• Low leakage air ducts in conditioned spaces
• Solar water heating can be used as a trade-off when using the performance method.

Blown in insulation is one way to make existing homes more efficient

NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR:

• Building Envelope: There are several revisions to the mandatory requirements for insulation and roofing.
• Mechanical Ventilation: These are Indoor Air Quality requirements which generally follow ASHRAE <http://www.ashrae.org/> Guideline 62.2. All low-rise residential construction will be required to have a whole-house ventilation system. Operable windows are not an approved ventilation system. The system shall have MERV 6 or better filtration system.
• Forced-Air Systems: There are new prescriptive requirements for forced-air systems. Fan watt draw limitations (no more than 0.8 watts per CFM) and minimum air flow rates for ventilation have been added to the new code.
• Calculation of Heating and Cooling Loads: Heating and cooling loads must be fully calculated even when using the Prescriptive Method. This is already done in the performance method.
• Spas & Pools: Time clocks and two flow speeds will be required on all spa pumps in order to limit flow velocity.
• Refrigerant Charge: When using the prescriptive method, it will be almost impossible to avoid a HERS verification of the refrigerant charge if you provide any form of air-conditioning. If you install a split system, it must be verified by a HERS rater.
• Hot Water Piping: Under-slab insulation of hot water piping will be required.
• Refrigerant charge measurement is now a prescriptive requirement in Climate Zones 2 and 8-15.
• Lighting Controls: New mandatory requirements for lighting controls.

NEW ALLOWANCES FOR:

• Metal Frame Walls: Metal frame wall assemblies can be used, if the spray-on polyurethane foam is verified by a HERS rater before the sheet rock is put on.
• Existing Wood-Framed Walls: Existing R-11 wood framed walls need not comply with R-13, if performance method is used.
• Solar water heating can be used as a trade-off when using the performance method.

Still have questions on Title 24? Visit the Title 24 home page on the California Energy Commission’s web site.

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

Any time any of the following HERS verifications are required, all these documents will now have to be registered and filed online with a HERS Provider who is certified through CalCERTS, CHEERS, or CBPCA. This means that, starting in 2010, designing architects will need to work with a HERS provider. As certified HERS raters through CalCERTS, we can verify the following:

• Duct sealing (duct blaster test)
• Supply duct location, surface area and R-value
• Low leakage for ducts in conditioned spaces
• Low leakage for air handling systems
• Verify refrigerant charge in split system air conditioners with heat pumps
• Cooling coil airflow
• Air handler fan watt draw
• High energy efficiency ratio (High EER)
• Maximum rated total cooling capacity
• Evaporatively cooled condensers
• Ice storage air conditioners
• Building envelope sealing (door blower test)
• High-quality insulation installation
• Photovoltaic field verification protocol

A HERS rater can verify that insulation is properly installed

It has become obvious that, on any project there are two players that make or break a project where energy is concerned:

• The first is the Title 24 Documentation Author. This is the person who creates the inputs and runs the Title 24 performance calculation model and writes up the Title 24 documents. In some jurisdictions, it is mandatory that Title 24 documents be completed by a Certified Energy Plans Examiner (CEPE) or Certified Energy Analyst (CEA) certified by CABEC. By an astonishing coincidence, we happen to have those qualifications as well.
• The second player is the HERS Rater, who must be certified by CalCERTS, CBPCA, or CHEERS. The HERS rater verifies the installation of energy-efficient measures and materials, and runs the diagnostic tests that are necessary to verify that the installation agrees with the Title 24 compliance calculations.

Both of these people have official sanctions and certifications from the State of California to actually file the necessary paperwork.

Here at Green Compliance Plus® we are certified and licensed by California to do both the Energy Analysis (Title 24 calculations) and the HERS Verification and diagnostic testing for you. We can also take care of the electronic filing requirements.

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.

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.

HERS VERIFICATIONS NOW MAKE SENSE: Under the new energy code, just to reach basic Title 24 compliance, it will now be necessary to be more creative. For many existing remodels and even for most new construction, it will often be impossible to reach compliance without a HERS rating. Where formerly we strove to avoid the added nuisance of opting for any HERS-rating verifications, the new energy code has changed so that HERS duct testing is now a desirable option which improves the buildings energy efficiency at a minimal cost.

The CEC estimates that HERS duct sealing verifications will now be four times as popular as they were previously under the 2005 Title 24.

NEW ELECTRONIC FILING REQUIREMENTS: Also after August 1, 2009, all CF-4R certificates which are required prior to occupancy must be registered with a HERS provider online (i.e. CalCERTS, CHEERS or CBPCA). Further, after October 2010, all Title 24 documentation including the original CF-1R, which reports the Performance Model, will have to also be filed online with a HERS-Provider.

This now means that any Architect submitting permit applications, in any jurisdiction, will be required by the state of California to have an association with a HERS-provider in order to process their permits online.

WE WANT TO MAKE THIS EASY FOR YOU: Our goal is to remove the hassle of Title 24 for our clients. So, given these facts:

1. HERS-rated duct testing and sealing verifications will now become the least expensive option of choice to reach compliance
2. Our clients will now need to file the CF-1R’s online through a HERS-provider prior to permitting and plans review, and also file the post construction Builder’s CF-6R’s and the HERS-Raters CF-4R certificates on line prior to occupancy

… We at Green Compliance Plus have decided to add HERS-Ratings to our package of complete Residential and Non-residential Title 24 services, so that all these filings can be handled for our clients through our offices.

To do so we have become HERS raters for both Existing Homes and for New Construction, and we have joined CalCERTS as our HERS-provider so that you can have access through us. Also, because we can now do the post construction HERS-verification testing on the project site for you, we now provide complete “Cradle to Cradle” green compliance for your projects, from schematic design to occupancy.