At the crossroads of changing weather conditions and building engineering, especially in our country’s hottest geographic regions, solutions are needed to promote forward-thinking design and ensure designers and owners are future ready.
The rate of change is outpacing the design industry’s ability to respond solely within existing codes and standards, which take time to develop. Climate maps and data used for building analysis and design are often outdated, temperatures deviating by as much as 10 percent in some areas of the country impacted by warming trends. What’s at stake? This data lag means lower comfort for occupants, higher costs to operate a building and increased efforts to meet a building’s energy efficiency and thus financial goals.
But these gaps can be overcome. Below, Paul Totten and Farid Pour from WSP’s Building Enclosures team explore three ways to acknowledge the lag while still driving a future where people are comfortable in the places we live, work, sleep and play.
1. Pay attention to current and future weather data in addition to historical trends.
In much of the U.S., especially the hot south, many commonly referenced weather datasets used during design are based on recordings prior to 2005. Yet, newer datasets are becoming more accessible, and future trending sets are carefully evaluated to establish reliable projections.
And there’s a straightforward solution here. By mandating the use of a recent five-year subset of weather data alongside historical data, many areas would require — and need — upgraded thermal insulation levels for the building enclosure. This immediate correction would allow future standards and code development to start from a more accurate baseline that reflects current and future weather trends. In addition, it would shift focus from responsible resource management and construction practices to a broader reach of the code, leading to more resilient building enclosures.
The benefits are impressive. By mitigating overheating buildings, designers can help improve resilience, durability and occupant comfort — and even enhance life safety.
2. Account for both hot and cold areas of the country.
Historically, insulation has been mainly intended to reduce heat loss in cold climates. In fact, insulation levels for heat gain reduction in hot climates haven’t been well studied. This disconnect means that thermal analyses in warmer areas of the country often do not align with the actual conditions of elevated radiation from the sun and rising air temperatures that have outpaced code. This leads to insufficient insulation of the building enclosure and higher energy consumption than predicted.
Like the insulation practices in colder climates aimed at reducing heat loss, designers should apply up-to-date weather data and analysis that looks at building materials, radiation and increased air temperatures to minimize heat absorption in hotter regions, just as they do for heat loss in colder ones. In some cases, our enclosures team found that insulation levels for above-grade walls and roofs must double code requirements to provide adequate thermal resistance. Moreover, commercial equipment placement within protected conditions and insulation of exterior-placed equipment and ductwork is needed to minimize the heat absorption in hotter areas, though not yet acknowledged in the code as standard practice.
3. Go above and beyond the code.
Organizations such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the International Energy Conservation Code have established valuable processes and guidance for resilient building design. Despite these efforts, an inevitable lag persists in the distribution of updated weather information to organizations that develop building codes. Consequently, this information often becomes outdated by the time it’s published. In the past, this same timeframe usually resulted in minimal temperature differentials, but with the accelerated rate of change, designers who rely on the accuracy and timeliness of climate data to create resilient buildings are faced with an inherent challenge.
Understanding that codes cannot reflect real-time changes, we need to be ahead of the curve — and the code — to provide Future Ready designs for buildings. Designers can enhance their practices to align with the intent of the code while simultaneously striving for more timely changes in the guidance of existing standards. By implementing necessary adjustments immediately, rather than waiting for code iterations, we can effectively meet energy efficiency goals now and in the future, better protecting the health and comfort of both occupants and humankind.
Learn more about the holistic approach of WSP’s Building Enclosure team here.
