Energy Standard for Sites & Buildings: Metering

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Energy Standard for Sites & Buildings: Metering

August 5, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Section 8 Key points:

Metering for New Buildings: New buildings larger than 25,000 square feet must be equipped with metering to measure the electrical energy usage of the entire building.

Tenant Spaces: In buildings with tenant spaces, individual tenant spaces larger than 10,000 square feet must also be separately metered.

Subsystem Metering: Buildings with electrical loads exceeding specified thresholds must have additional metering to measure energy use for various subsystems, including:

HVAC systems
Lighting systems
Plug loads
Process loads

These metering requirements are intended to help building owners and operators monitor energy consumption, identify opportunities for energy savings, and comply with building energy codes and standards.

Despite best intentions a fair question to ask: What does over metering look like? (University of Alberta Research)

University of Michigan

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is an ANSI-accredited continuous-maintenance standards developer (a major contributor to what we call a regulatory product development “stream”).   Continuous maintenance means that changes to titles in its catalog can change in as little as 30-45 days.  This is meaningful to jurisdictions that require conformance to the “latest” version of ASHRAE 90.1

Among the leading titles in its catalog is ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Standard for Sites and Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.  Standard 90.1 has been a benchmark for commercial building energy codes in the United States and a key basis for codes and standards around the world for more than 35 years.  Free access to ASHRAE 90.1 version is available at the link below:

READ ONLY Version of 2022 ASHRAE 90.1

If you cannot access it with the link above, try the link below and select 90.1 from the title list:

Current Popular ASHRAE Standards and Guidelines

Chapter 9: Lighting, begins on Page 148, and therein lie the tables that are the most widely used metrics (lighting power densities) by electrical and illumination engineers for specifying luminaires and getting them wired and controlled “per code”.   Many jurisdictions provide access to this Chapter without charge.  Respecting ASHRAE’s copyright, we will not do so here but will use them during today’s Illumination Colloquium, 16:00 UTC.

Keep in mind that recently ASHRAE expanded the scope of 90.1 to include energy usage in the spaces between buildings:

25 January 2023: Newly Released ASHRAE 90.1-2022 Includes Expanded Scope For Building Sites

At this time, there are no redlines open for public comment

Online Standards Actions & Public Review Drafts

Education industry facility managers, energy conservation workgroups, sustainability officers, electric shop foreman, electricians and front-line maintenance professionals who change lighting fixtures, maintain environmental air systems are encouraged to participate directly in the ASHRAE consensus standard development process.

Univerzita Karlova

We also maintain ASHRAE best practice titles as standing items on our Mechanical, Water, Energy and Illumination colloquia.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [Various]

Category: Mechanical, Electrical, Energy Conservation, Facility Asset Management, US Department of Energy, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Larry Spielvogel, Richard Robben

Under Construction:  ASHRAE WORKSPACE

More:

US Department of Energy Codes Program: Power and Lighting

Rightsizing Electrical Power Systems

Emerging Transportation Technology

August 5, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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“Little Children on a Bicycle” mural on Armenian Street, George Town, Penang by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic as part of the George Town Festival 2012

 

The school bus system is the largest mass transportation system in the United States*

and has eluded the “gales of creative destruction”**  found in other industries.

 

In April the US Department of Transportation (DOT) created the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT) Council to identify and resolve jurisdictional and regulatory gaps associated with non-traditional and emerging transportation projects pending before DOT, including with respect to safety oversight, environmental review, and funding issues. The Office of the Secretary of Transportation invites comments on projects, issues, or topics that DOT should consider through the NETT Council, including regulatory models and other alternative approaches for non-traditional and emerging transportation technologies.

The Federal Register Notice is linked below:

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION / Office of the Secretary / Docket No. DOT–OST–2019–0165

Comments directly to the DOT are due January 10, 2020.

Apart from inter- and intra- campus travel issues, there are three reasons for Standards Michigan interest in the DOT inquiry:

  • According to DOT statistics the American school bus system is the largest public transportation operation in the United States; with nearly 500,000 vehicles moving 26 million children to school every day.
  • A great deal of federal funding is allocated to transportation research.
  • Academic programs in engineering and urban planning must include an understanding of public and private transportation issues.   

For the education facility industry, Standards Michigan prefers privately developed consensus products; preferably by accredited or open-source standard developers with robust outreach toward the user-interest.   The American National Standards Institute — the not-for-profit organization that supports the voluntary standards and conformity assessment system — is planning to develop a response to the Request for Information, and strongly encourages its members and constituents to either respond directly to the RFI or to contribute to the ANSI’s response.

Contributions to ANSI’s response are due December 20th.

We place this commenting opportunity on the agenda of our monthly Transportation & Parking teleconference.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Campuses are “cities-within-cities” and perfect study units for cities of the future

Issue: [19-152]

Category: Transportation & Parking

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Paul Green. Richard Robben

* America’s Largest Transit System

** Joseph Schumpeter: Schöpferische Zerstörung


LEARN MORE:

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The Yellow School Bus Industry

ANSI Announcement / November 27, 2019

Filles du Roi

August 4, 2025
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McEwan Hall

August 4, 2025
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Writing Headlines

August 4, 2025
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General Conditions of the Construction Contract

August 4, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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International Code Council: Current Code Development Cycle 2024-2026

International Building Code: Chapter 1 Scope and Administration

There are five key components needed to address in each construction contract as a protection against litigation in an industry that is rich in possibilities.
  • Scope of the project. …
  • Total cost and payment requirements. …
  • Project timeline. …
  • Lien law protection. …
  • Dispute resolution.

Today at the usual hour we examine a few representative contracts:

List of all current AIA Contract Documents

University of Michigan Standard General Conditions

Wayne State University Supplementary Conditions of Construction

Princeton University: General Terms & Conditions for Construction Contracts

Universities Wisconsin: General Conditions of the Contract for Construction

The cost of compliance with general conditions in a typical construction project can vary widely depending on factors like project size, complexity, location, and specific requirements. General conditions refer to the indirect costs that support the project—things like project management, temporary facilities, safety measures, and administrative expenses—not the direct costs of labor, materials, or equipment tied to physical construction.

In percentage terms, general conditions typically account for 5% to 15% of the total project cost, with most projects falling in the 5% to 10% range for standard residential or commercial builds. Smaller projects might see percentages closer to or exceeding 10% because fixed costs (like a site trailer or a project manager’s time) don’t scale down as much as direct costs. Larger, more complex projects—like industrial or infrastructure work—might trend toward the lower end (5% or less) since direct costs dominate, diluting the relative impact of general conditions. For example, a $300,000 residential project might allocate $15,000 to $30,000 (5% to 10%) for general conditions, while a $10 million commercial project could see $500,000 or less (5%) if efficiencies kick in.

Related:

Methods of Building Measurement

Global Consistency in Presenting Construction & Life Cycle Costs

Higher Education Estates Management Report 2023

Modular Classrooms

Planning, Design & Construction Team

Architecture and Aesthetic Education

How Blockchain Will Change Construction

Carnegie Classifications

Design Age Institute

Christ the King Chapel

August 3, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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Standards Virginia

Best Week Ever 2023: Christendom College Summer Program


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