Washington Residential Energy Code 2012: Overview 17 December 2013 Ben Larson, Ecotope 1

Code History and Overview WA Energy Code updated on three year cycle. Previous code was Current is Effective 1 July – Code format changed from WA own to layout of IECC. Most provisions from previous codes retained. Energy codes set the new construction baseline for most efficiency measures Presentation Overview: – Code Description and Provisions – Compliance Options – Energy Use and Savings – Setting the baseline for efficiency measures 2

Envelope 3 Climate Zones now follow IECC designation. All counties in WA are 4M or 5 except for four counties in the north east: – Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille are IECC Zone 6 Of those, only Ferry is the PNW Heating Zone 3, the rest are HZ 2 Overall, little change in the base envelope requirements from Climate zone reassignment may have slightly relaxed the wall insulation requirement for the formerly WA Zone 2 locations

Ducts, Infiltration, Lighting Duct Leakage - tested6 cfm per 100ft 2 of floor area at 25Pa 4 cfm per 100ft 2 of floor area at 25Pa House Leakage – testedSLA of (~5.5-6ACH50) 5ACH50 Lighting50% High efficacy75% High efficacy lamps

Additional Requirements Meet all of the prescriptive requirements and then obtain 1 point in 2009 and 1.5 points in 2012 from the following options: OptionDescriptionPointsOptionDescriptionPoints 1aHVAC: 92 AFUE or 8.5 HSPF11aenvelope a0.5 1bground source heat pump21benvelope b1 1cdhp11cenvelope c2 2ducts inside12aexhaust fan0.5 3aenvelope a0.52bhrv b1 3benvelope b12chrv c1.5 3cenvelope c23a95 AFUE (gas only)0.5 4ahrv a0.53b8.5 HSPF (hp only)1 4bhrv b13cground source heat pump2 5adhw low flow & better tank0.53ddhp (zonal only)1 5bdhw low flow & hpwh or gas tankless1.54ducts inside1 6small dwelling15adhw low flow & better tank0.5 7large dwelling5bdhw hpwh or gas tankless1.5 8renewables onsite0.56renewables onsite0.5

Which Options Are Selected? This is a common problem – it exists for the OR code, the previous WA code, and for EnergyStar in the Northwest. There is no certain answer to the question because any answer is a prediction. A possible approach: – estimate builder option selection based on cost and current market saturations of heating systems, foundation types, and house sizes 6

WA Energy Code 2012 vs 2009 House Size Heating System Options Combinations Electric Savings Gas Savings Total Energy Savings Incremental Cost Options Weighting kWh/yr/housetherms/yr/house BL1DB1 Medium Size House – needs 1.5 pts (83% of population) Gas Furnace No Cooling gfnc_1a_2a_5a % $ 1, gfnc_3a_1a_2a % $ 1, gfnc_3a_1a_5a % $ 1, gfnc_3a_2a_5a % $ gfnc_1a_2b___ % $ 3, gfnc_1a_4____ % $ 1, gfnc_1b_2a___ % $ 3, gfnc_1b_5a___ % $ 2, gfnc_2a_4____ % $ gfnc_3a_4____ % $ gfnc_4__5a___ % $ gfnc_5b______ % $ Gas Furnace with CAC gfac_1a_2a_5a % $ 1, gfac_3a_1a_2a % $ 1, gfac_3a_1a_5a % $ 1, gfac_3a_2a_5a % $ gfac_1a_2b___ % $ 3, gfac_1a_4____ % $ 1, gfac_1b_2a___ % $ 3, gfac_1b_5a___ % $ 2, gfac_2a_4____ % $ gfac_3a_4____ % $ gfac_4__5a___ % $ gfac_5b______ % $ Heat Pump hp85_3b_5a___ % $ hp77_2a_4____ % $ hp77_4__5a___ % $ Zonal Resistance Heat zonl_1b_2a___ % $ zonl_1b_5a___ % $ zonl_2a_3d___ % $ 3, zonl_3d_5a___ % $ 2, Small House – needs 0.5 pts (15% of population) Gas Furnace No Cooling gfnc_3a______ % $ gfnc_5a______ % $ -0.5 Gas Furnace with CAC gfac_3a______ % $ gfac_5a______ % $ -0.5 Heat Pump hp77_2a______ % $ hp85_3b______ % $ -0.4 hp77_5a______ % $ Zonal Resistance Heat zonl_2a______ % $ zonl_5a______ % $ Overall kWh/yr/house Savings Overall therms/yr/house Savings4244 Overall Total Energy Percent Savings9.6%9.8% Overall Cost $ 678 $ 790 7

WA Code Over the Years 8 Target: 70% reduction in building energy use by 2031 per WA SB 5854

What about Conservation Measures? New construction house characteristics (baseline) can now differ between houses Scenario 1a: Ducts inside – Baseline house has Options 4 (ducts inside) and 5a (low flow fixtures) A ducts inside efficiency measure has zero savings compared to this baseline Scenario 1b: Ducts inside – Baseline house has Options 3b (heat pump upgrade) and 5a (low flow fixtures) Adding ducts inside to this baseline house does produce energy savings Scenario 2: Upgraded Heat Pump to HSPF 9.0 – Baseline house has Options 3b (heat pump upgrade to HSPF 8.5) and 5a (low flow fixtures) The savings from the measure is the difference between an HSPF 8.5 and 9.0 heat pump  Savings from any individual new construction efficiency measure is not guaranteed. 9

What is the Best Baseline? For a given measure, the baseline changes and depends on what code path was selected. – HSPF 9.0 measure would have an HSPF 8.5 baseline. – Ducts inside measure has a ducts inside baseline (mostly) To get reliable savings from measures in WA for new construction, they will need to be bundled and packaged up 10

Existing Measure Package Examples EnergyStar Montana House BuiltGreen Eco-Rated and High Performance Manufactured Homes 11

Conclusion and Recommendations WA Residential Code improved 9-10% over 2009 Individual measures are challenged, including: – Heat pump upgrades, interior ducts, efficient DHW tanks, HPWHs, and showerheads – These UES measures need to be reexamined under the new baseline Recommend avoiding individual measures in new construction in favor of packages Existing EnergyStar needs revamp for WA Other, additional packages can be created Picking additional items off the options list can also form the basis of a conservation measure (scenario 1b) 12

13 Additional Slides Follow Ben Larson Ecotope

Washington Code Options Table 14

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