January 2020 
President's Message
PRESIDENT: Adrienne Thomle
Happy February! I am sitting in a society level Standards committee meeting listening to and voting on Title, Purpose and Scope changes for new ASHARE standards and membership for existing standard committees at the winter ASHRAE meeting. Wishing I was back home in Reno and not sitting in long discussions about standards but at the same time enjoying the wealth of knowledge in our industry. Since this is the winter meeting there is also an ARI show which brings in tens of thousands of users and producers of equipment in our industry so the next few days will be full of work and fellowship. We are in Orlando and the weather is not as pleasant as Reno. No sunshine for 2 days now.
The next winter meeting is in Chicago in 2021 and then (I believe) we are back in Las Vegas in 2022. If you have not had an opportunity to attend the ASHRAE part of the winter shows I highly encourage you to go to a Technical meeting and find out how the process works. We are a totally volunteer organization which means the technical papers, research, guidelines and standards are managed and written by our peers in the industry.
In February we honor our past Presidents of Northern Nevada ASHRAE. It will be a fun event at Louie’s Basque restaurant downtown. We had great attendance at our January meeting and a great speaker. Alec is doing a wonderful job of planning the meetings and the speakers. Come to the next meeting and help us celebrate our past.
I also wanted to remind you that we are accepting applications for our ASHRAE Scholarships, the applicaiton is available at the link below. The deadline is Friday, February 15th, so if you know of anyone who could benefit from the scholarship please encourage them to apply as soon as possible.
Adrienne
President Elect Report
President Elect / Programs Chair - Alec Lyons
This meeting will be held at Louis' Basque Corner
Cocktails 5:30, Dinner at 6:00
Register at:
Advanced registration $30, week of event $35, day of or at the door $40, student registration is $15.
Jeff Solberg P.E. – Flowtherm Systems
Understanding domestic booster applications and design considerations. Design overview and applications will cover Hunter’s Curve with flow calcs, pressure losses, Constant vs Variable speed systems, Hydro pneumatic tank selections, followed by break tank and rain water applications
Bio
Jeff is currently the Director of Flowtherm Systems (A Division of CHC) which builds custom package systems serving the mechanical and plumbing trades for commercial, industrial and institutional facilities. Jeff oversees the design, manufacturing, testing and startup services for these systems.
Jeff has been an active member of ASHRAE throughout his career. He was the committee chair for many ASHRAE committees and was the Chapter President of the San Jose Chapter in 2006-2007.
Prior to working for a manufacturing firm Jeff worked as a project manager for a number of Mechanical Engineering Consulting firms. As a project manager Jeff was in charge of the design of HVAC, plumbing, fire protection and medical gas systems for numerous projects. Projects included, office buildings, multifamily housing, schools and hospitals.
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ASHRAE Meeting Dates for 2019-20 |
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Date |
Person |
Company |
Topic |
Monthly Theme |
Location |
Lunch/Dinner |
|
9/19/2019 |
Mike Thompson | Ingersoll Rand |
Refrigerant Transistions |
Welcome Back |
Twisted Fork |
Dinner |
|
10/17/2019 |
Alex Schafer |
Guntner |
Adiabatic Cooling |
Membership Promotion Sustainability |
Twisted Fork |
Dinner |
|
11/21/2019 |
Larry Felker |
Belimo |
Remote Inspections |
Research Promotion |
Atlantis |
Lunch |
|
1/16/2020 |
Jim Clauss |
Metraflex Co. |
Seismic/Thermal Expansion |
|
Twisted Fork |
Dinner |
|
2/20/2020 |
Jeff Solberg |
Flowtherm Systems |
Domestic Booster Applications |
Past President's Night |
Louis' Basque Corner |
Dinner |
|
3/19/2020 |
TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
|
TBD |
Lunch |
|
4/16/2020 |
TBD |
TBD |
Tour or Speaker |
|
TBD |
Lunch |
|
5/21/2020 |
TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
|
TBD |
Lunch |
Treasurer's Report
TREASURER: John Bigda
As of February 3rd, 2020, the chapter account balance is (deleted by editor - we are solvent).
John
Calendar of Events
17th Annual Sporting Clays Event
Saturday April 11th, 2020 –Registration at 9:00 a.m., Shoot at 10:00 a.m.
At
Carson Valley Clays
61 China Springs Rd.
Gardnerville, NV
Entry Fee: $110.00 per shooter, $550.00 per team
The fee includes:
- Sporting Clays, Lunch, Ammunition for all participants.
- Prizes awarded in 4 classes (A thru D, Lewis Scoring) plus individual categories (High Team, High Gun, High Lady, and High Student).
All Participants and Guests are eligible to participate in a raffle with great prizes. Raffle Tickets will be on sale at the shoot: $5.00 for 1 ticket, or $20.00 for 5 tickets.
See attached flyer, if you have any questions, contact Matt Brennan at (775) 745-8555 or [email protected].
Government Activities Chair Report
GAC Chair - Dave Wyllie
This month I'm reporting on the first quarter meeting of the Nevada Energy Code Collaborative. The meeting was held on January 7th, these meetings are attended by several stakeholders in the energy codes for the state, and are run by Jim Meyers of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP). Minutes/highlights given here.
Review Previous Meeting Items
Jim summarized the last meeting where we discussed the RESNET data analysis, a presentation on zero energy buildings (and the November zero energy ready training at SW Gas), general service lighting in Nevada and the status update of the residential field study as of September.
2021 IECC Update on Preliminary Results
Jim Meyers with SWEEP highlighted some of the potential changes in the 2021 IECC. Jim emphasized the results released by ICC are preliminary and a validation committee, ICC Board review, and challenge period must occur before the final version is announced – most likely in the first quarter of 2020. The codes will be published in late 2020.
Jim showed examples of voting guides that were provided by different organizations describing support or opposition to code change proposals in the 2021 codes. The ICC released preliminary results of the online governmental consensus vote (OGCV) in December. An example of how possible vote counts could take place to support the committee position, from last April, or to override the committee position.
Highlights addressed the residential proposals and Jim will provide highlights of the commercial proposals in the next quarterly collaborative meeting. The 2021 IECC can see the removal of words in section titles such as “mandatory” and “prescriptive” and this will be replaced with tables in both the residential and commercial section that provide mandatory requirements when following a performance type compliance pathway.
Additional highlights include:
o Window efficiency changes
o Hot water compactness (only when using the residential performance path)
o Water heater type(s) are now specified in the code
o Wall insulation changes for cavity only and exterior only insulation options
o Duct leakage testing for all duct locations
o New air leakage option using cfm/ft2 for attached and single family < 1,500 ft2
o Electric readiness for appliances, if gas then also electric
o Exterior lighting controls required for low-rise multi-family
o Multiple ERI changes including 2015 ERI scores, 2018 IECC envelope and on-site power not to exceed 5 percent energy use
o Zero appendices – zero energy for residential, and zero carbon for commercial
Update on the Residential Energy Code Field Study
Shaunna Mozingo with Mozingo Code Group (MCG) discussed the current status of the residential field data study in Nevada. Currently, we are waiting for final contract approval at NASEO and DOE to start the Nevada study. The hope is the contract will be signed soon and the work can commence.
Shaunna summarized the goal of the study as a reminder since the kickoff meetings were held back in October. Only new site built single family homes, single site visit per house, the focus is on individual code requirements and not the house, 126 visits to obtain 63 observations. The first phase only includes the data collection and phase two is the training from the data findings.
The key data items that will be collected include envelope tightness, window values, exterior wall insulation and ceiling insulation, lighting, duct leakage and foundation insulation – if applicable. All data is sanitized and the address, builder name, jurisdiction and so-forth will not be provided to PNNL. There will be no personally identifiable information to be reported to PNNL. The data will then be analyzed by PNNL. The project team will perform blower door tests, duct leakage tests and observe frame cavity insulation installation.
Training opportunities for 2020
Jim, Robin Yochum and others spoke about training opportunities for building energy codes in Nevada for the year 2020. Tom and Jim mentioned the zero-energy ready training held at Southwest Gas in November and how it was a great turnout. SWEEP used PNNL funding for this along with the sponsors who provided refreshments and facility space. The PNNL funding for zero energy ended in 2019, but SWEEP would like to continue providing this type of information in Nevada for residential and commercial building industry.
Robin mentioned they will be turning attention to energy code training now that they have new staff and the start of the new year. And Les had led the effort to get energy code training sessions into Educode 2020 in March. Three days of training will be provided; 3/11 – building science, 3/12 – 2018 IECC residential, 3/13 – 2018 IECC commercial and 90.1. The goal is to get a full week track at Educode in 2021.
Jim will talk with Sara Gutterman at Green Builder Media to see if an advanced schedule of upcoming webinars and trainings in support of NV Energy’s educational training efforts. Information will be passed along through the collaborative mailing list when received.
Innovative Heat Pump Programs
Tom Polikalas provided highlights of utility programs across the country and at Berkshire Hathaway owned utilities. Tom mentioned how the use of heat pumps, for space and water, can save money for new construction. There are numerous reports that show how efficient a heat pump water heater (HPWH) is compared to electric resistance water heaters.
Rocky Mountain Power in Utah offers a $550 rebate for HPWHs. In New Hampshire a utility provides a $750 rebate for HPWHs and in some specific areas of Arizona Public Service a pilot program is running with the installation of a HPWH with a value of $6,000.
For space heating an example of a Colorado utility who provided the ground loops of a ground source heat pump. The utility owns the ground loops and connection to the house similar as a utility owns the electric grid up to a house. Because the loops are owned by the utility there is little increased cost to new homes to add space conditioning heat pump systems.
The conversation would like to be continued to advance programs like this in Nevada.
Upcoming Events
February 1-5, 2020 - ASHRAE Winter Conference, Orlando, FL
February 24-26, 2020 - RESNET Conference, Scottsdale, AZ
May 11-13, 2020 (tentative) - DOE National Energy Codes Conference, Chicago, IL
May 14-16, 2020 – AIA Conference on Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
Classified
Title: Mechanical Drafter
Company: Ainsworth Associates Mechanical Engineers
Ainsworth Associates Mechanical Engineers is looking to add a Mechanical Drafter to its existing talented staff in our Reno office. The candidate will be responsible for drafting and modeling others’ HVAC and plumbing designs, as well as from time to time be involved in other support tasks such as site surveys, system assessments, and load calculations. The ideal candidate will have a working knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit. Any experience with or knowledge of HVAC and plumbing systems is a plus. This is an excellent opportunity to join a 68 year old very successful engineering firm with generous compensation, flexible work schedule options and benefits package! Email your resume in confidence to [email protected].
