Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy supports the development of commercial building energy codes and standards by participating in industry review, update processes, and providing technical analyses to support both published model codes and potential changes. In support of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 and International Energy Conservation Code, 16 commercial prototype building models were developed that cover 80% of the commercial building floor area in the United States for new construction, including both commercial buildings and mid- to high-rise residential buildings, across all U.S. climate zones. Of these, the small, medium, and large office buildings take about 12% of total commercial building floor area.
Currently, small, medium, and large office prototype building models have simplified, single space type, while other building types includes more detailed space types. As such, the office prototype could not be easily used to properly assess changes (i.e. measures applied) to difference spaces commonly found in an office. This work has added new space types to the small and medium office, with properties based on several vintages of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 in different climate zones, and compared energy use of these newly-improved models with that of the original models.
