Mathew Coalson, E.I., a commissioning and energy specialist who works at Hanson’s Orlando, Florida, regional office, helped University of Central Florida students understand how to use a standard for energy-efficient design.
On Nov. 30, Mat met with two teams competing in ASHRAE’s annual HVAC design and competition to introduce them to ASHRAE Standard 90.1: Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. During his one-hour presentation, he guided the students on navigating the extensive standard themselves. He focused on the intention of the code, which is to act as the minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of most buildings while offering guidance on exceeding that minimum; adhering to the compliance path; and how to use Appendix G when developing an energy model to validate that the design will exceed the basic building code standard enough to justify deviating from the code minimum.
The ASHRAE competition challenges students to design or select a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system or to design an energy-efficient, sustainable project that approaches zero net energy. This year’s contest is centered on a hypothetical lab in Cairo.