ASHRAE moving quickly to label buildings’ use of energy

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) announced at its recent Winter Meeting in Chicago that it was “moving right along” at developing a rating system for measuring buildings’ energy use, and in developing a standard for green buildings.

The Society expects to launch the building energy labelling program at the 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The program will include a method for rating the energy performance of both the building design and its actual operations. There will a process for approving alternative methods, and there will be criteria for qualifying  the individuals who will carry out the energy assessments and ratings. 

Meanwhile, the committee responsible for developing the Standard 189.1P Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings has been expanded. The committee approved an aggressive work plan in Chicago and aims to have a public review draft ready this spring.