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ASHRAE 90406

ASHRAE DESIGN GUIDE FOR LOW- TO MID-RISE MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

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Organization: ASHRAE
Publication Date: 1 January 2020
Status: active
Page Count: 186
scope:

Introduction

The rapidly growing multifamily building sector represents a major opportunity to advance the goal of improving the energy performance and indoor air quality (IAQ) of the residential building stock. A recent analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) estimates that the value of the cost-effective energy savings available in the multifamily sector is $3.4 billion per year (ACEEE 2012). Unfortunately, the energy performance of multifamily buildings has been relatively neglected in the broader industry push for high-performance buildings, and many strategies for reducing energy use in this sector remain underrepresented in new construction. Additionally, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), especially IAQ, has become a greater concern in multifamily buildings.

ASHRAE Design Guide for Low- to Mid-Rise Multifamily Residential Buildings provides practitioners with foundational guidance for improving the energy performance, IAQ, sustainability, and overall quality of low-rise and mid-rise multifamily projects. The recommendations in this guide may also be useful to building operators and owners seeking better energy performance and IEQ in their multifamily projects.

The first half of the guide is focused on fundamental concepts while the second half is focused on more in-depth, specific topics:

Chapter 1, Environmental Context and Sustainability, provides the impetus behind, and the larger context for, designing and building sustainable multifamily buildings.

Chapter 2, Culture and Demographics, introduces the varying cultural and demographic factors that might influence building design.

Chapter 3, Building Codes, Standards, and Guidelines, provides an introduction to the codes that regulate multifamily buildings-especially energy and IEQ-and the additional standards and guidelines for multifamily projects available to design teams.

Chapter 4, Building Science, provides a basic understanding of building science issues to provide a foundation for the later chapters of this guide.

Chapter 5, Design Skills, details the different skills that a design team must have to successfully design an energy-efficient and healthy building.

Chapter 6, Integrated Design, summarizes key elements of the integrated design process, including how specific groups of professionals can work together to optimize the complete design.

Chapter 7, Indoor Environmental Quality, introduces key IEQ concepts, including IAQ issues, health, and comfort, and offers best practices for multifamily buildings.

Chapter 8, Energy, introduces a wide range of energy-performance issues and opportunities for multifamily buildings and provides the foundation for subsequent chapters that go more indepth into the various energy systems in multifamily buildings.

Chapter 9, Envelope, describes the primary issues for delivering envelope systems that are energy efficient and ensure indoor environmental quality, including building configuration, thermal performance, infiltration, and thermal bridging issues.

Chapter 10, Space Conditioning, covers space conditioning and focuses considerable attention on ventilation, including both fundamentals and best practices.

Chapter 11, Ventilation, covers ventilation strategies and systems, including energy efficiency best practices.

Chapter 12, Water Heating, covers the fundamentals of water-heating systems in multifamily buildings, including the implications of different system approaches as well as best practices.

Chapter 13, Lighting Systems, focuses on high-performance lighting, including high-efficacy light sources, and the opportunities for deploying effective controls in multifamily projects.

Chapter 14, Plug Loads, provides guidance on how designers can approach this highly occupant- driven load, focusing on strategies available during the design phase that can reduce plug loads and provide opportunities for better plug-load management.

Chapter 15, Building Handoff and Operations, provides guidance for facilitating and encouraging effective operation and maintenance of multifamily buildings so that performance goals set during the design phase can be met.

Chapter 16, Getting to Zero Energy in Multifamily Buildings, includes background information and definitions for zero energy as well as guidance on how to bring together the information and best practices of the rest of the guide to support the design and operation of a zero energy multifamily building.

Appendix A, Sample Design Process Forms, includes forms that can be used and adapted as part of the design process to implement the guidance and recommendations contained herein. These forms are also available in fillable Adobe® Acrobat® PDF format as well as editable Microsoft ® Excel® spreadsheet format at. (If the files or information at the link are not accessible, please contact the publisher.)

Appendix B, High-Performance Equipment Requirements, includes tables that list the requirements for efficient equipment provided in the New Buildings Institute (NBI) multifamily building guide (NBI 2017). These requirements cover a wide selection of equipment types and sizes and are generally aligned with CEE Tier 2 in order to ensure both savings and wide availability.

Document History

ASHRAE 90406
January 1, 2020
ASHRAE DESIGN GUIDE FOR LOW- TO MID-RISE MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
Introduction The rapidly growing multifamily building sector represents a major opportunity to advance the goal of improving the energy performance and indoor air quality (IAQ) of the residential...

References

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