AISC comments on ASRAE Standard

CHICAGO—In response to the proposed American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) Standard 189.1 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) released a statement addressing the organization’s concerns, submitted comments directly to ASHRAE, and AISC members attended the open 189.1 Committee meeting last month.

Primarily, AISC’s concerns with the proposed standard include the organization’s belief that the standard is outside the scope and expertise for which ASHRAE is ANSI-accredited; it will result in adverse environmental impacts; it includes provisions that are unfair to steel and inappropriately preferential to the interests of the concrete industry; and adversely restricts the freedom of design professionals in their selection of structural framing materials.

The proposed ASHRAE standard, being developed jointly with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, is intended to provide minimum requirements for high-performance green buildings. The apparent goal of ASHRAE is to include 189.1 in the International Building Code as an appendix available for local adoption.

Click here to read AISC’s Statement.