In the energy industry, there is big business to be made in reclaiming wasted or unnecessary energy usage, and great strides have been taken in saving electricity. Now, ASHRAE and IES are tightening the belt on residential energy usage.

According to ASHRAE, the residential sector consumes one-fifth (21 percent) of all the primary energy used in the United States and more than half (54 percent) of all energy used by buildings.

That is why ASHRAE and the IES are making their residential energy standard 50 percent more efficient than the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code.

ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.2 2007R, Energy Efficient Design of Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is open for public comment from Nov. 4 until Dec. 19, 2016.

“Key to accomplishing this objective is delivery of an accurate, flexible performance-based tool to enable user creativity in meeting the performance objectives," said Theresa Weston, chair of the Standard 90.2 committee. "The new standard contains detailed rules governing the energy modeling and analyses needed to determine compliance with the performance objectives.”

The updated standard is intended to offer more flexibility over previous versions. It outlines clear performance objectives for any residential building, and it establishes clearly defined rules for energy performance modeling. The standard guides users through various designs, material options, and other variables. All of this enables users to set goals and ensure compliance before construction even begins.

In addition, this new standard enables users to develop "recipes" for meeting energy efficiency goals. So, designers can offer owners different preset options, or authorities can develop prescriptive solutions that meet local compliance.

New to this version are various features including manufactured housings, building envelopes, mechanical systems, lighting systems, and on-site power systems.

For more information or to submit comments, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.