ASHRAE Standard 189 committee getting back on track, says USGBC

Posted from Greenbuild '08.

A month ago, EBN was the first to report the news that the ASHRAE Standard 189-P committee, which has been developing the nation's first code-level national green building standard for commercial buildings, had been unexpectedly disbanded by ASHRAE.

At a special Greenbuild update today, Mark MacCracken, a USGBC representative to the committee, referred to reports of the committee's disbanding as "rumors." Come again? He later acknowledged that the committee had been, in official terminology, "cleared," and that "this probably wasn't handled as well as it could have been, in terms of communication." MacCracken also publicly confirmed what we had suspected: that due to stakeholders feeling left out of the committee, the standard was in danger of being appealed to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on procedural grounds, which would have bogged it down considerably.

In response, ASHRAE cleared the committee and is now accepting applications as it reconvenes it. According to MacCracken, the committee is expected to expand from 23 to 30 members. (The former committee chair, John Hogan, about whom MacCracken spoke in glowing terms, resisted ASHRAE's moves, and ultimately resigned, according to our sources, in part because an expanded committee would potentially be unwieldy. Kent Peterson will be the new chair, said MacCracken.)

The new committee is expected to be reformed and in operation by December 15th, with a goal of completing its work in 2009, following a third public review. It will start its work with the draft that passed through the second public review, including some subsequent revisions. USGBC has recommitted its support, along with IES, the other partner.

Our headline from a month ago read "Uncertain Future for ASHRAE 189." Was that ever true? Is it still? I would say "yes" on both accounts. Process-wise, it looks like it will go ahead, which wasn't so certain a month ago when ASHRAE surprised everyone with this move. What about the content? Some of the targets, such as a baseline 30% energy savings, are quite aggressive for a minimum code-enforceable standard, and a variety of powerful players have lined up against the standard. Those players will now have the chance to get a seat at the table, and a vote.

Interestingly, USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi announced at last year's Greenbuild that if 189 is passed, the most basic "certified" level of LEED may be phased out. That's presumably because 189 is based on that level of LEED, and USGBC would be advocating for compliance with 189 as a basic requirement for all U.S. buildings.