As you may have heard, the RESNET 380 standard will replace RESNET Ch. 8 which dictates how raters test homes for envelope leakage, duct leakage, mechanical ventilation, and duct system air flows. Any home permitted on or after July, 1 2018 must be tested in accordance to the 380 Standard. The standard currently applies to all single-family homes as well as multifamily projects that are three stories or less. There are more updates coming for multifamily so make sure you are signed up to receive email updates from RESNET.

Definitions

One goal of the 380 standard is to improve consistency throughout the HERS process and to reduce the need for Raters to make judgement calls when taking measurements in the field. To help achieve this, the standard includes definitions for:

• Conditioned Space Volume
• Unconditioned Space Volume
• Infiltration Volume
• Conditioned Floor Area
• ELA & other metrics

Envelope

Renewables create almost as many jobs as fossil fuels that receive all the government attention.  More astonishing is that energy efficiency produces more jobs that both but gets zero attention from politicians.  The following article (originally posted here) outlines these details. Credit: Jim Barrett, Chief Economist. 

Coal is big. Solar’s bigger. But energy efficiency is the biggest.

Blog | April 28, 2017 - 10:19 am

By Jim Barrett, Chief Economist

The New York Times recently

One of the world’s largest projects built to save energy

Trump’s proposal to eliminate popular money-saving energy efficiency programs, including the EPA’s Energy Star Program and the DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program will be a major loss for consumers, experts have warned — but also for the climate.

A professor at the University of California at Los Angeles were able to analyze data on the energy use of 178,777 commercial buildings from the years 2005 to 2012. Their findings show Energy Star and LEED-certified buildings used 19.31

The Washington State Department of Commerce has released, "Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard Version 3.0." Below are notes as related to residential airtightness testing:

Section 5.11: Airchange on rehab gets 3 pts for 7 ACH and 7 pts for 5 ACH.  This could be difficult in some types of houses. Key step, is to find all the attic leaks around plumbing stack vents and chimneys that can be sealed off with foamboard, foam and sheet metal for chimneys. Then wiring penetrations and pot lights that must all be replaced with sealed LED units to save on leakage and  power. This work is most easily done by removing the insulation which will allow the tops of all wals to be sealed between the 2x4 and sheetrock.  All open joist ends must be blocked and sealed. Then look at joist spaces in the basement that should all be foamed. DOE has a Bypass Guide

Congratulations to Craig Senglin, winner of Retrotec’s $2,000 Equipment Giveaway at RESNET!

Retrotec’s $2,000 Equipment Giveaway celebrated the release of rCloud, a cutting-edge testing platform for the blower door and duct testing industries.  The platform geolocates testing locations, performs automatic tests, creates sharable compliance reports, and secures results safely in the cloud.

RESNET participants who completed a contest form & rCloud questionnaire were eligible to win this year’s contest.  Out of approximately 50 contestants, Craig Senglin of Energy IQ came home with the prize. 

About Craig & Energy IQ

Energy IQ is a Trusted Advisor for energy code, energy efficiency, and