NONRESIDENTIAL ALTERNATIVE CALCULATION METHOD REFERENCE MANUAL FOR THE 2019 BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS TITLE 24, PART 6, AND ASSOCIATED ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS IN PART 1. MAY 2019 CEC-400-2019-006-CMF CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION Gavin Newsom, Governor California Energy Commission David Hochschild Chair Commissioners Karen Douglas, J.D. J. Andrew McAllister, Ph.D. Patricia Monahan Janea A. Scott Larry Froess, P.E. RJ Wichert Primary Authors Todd Ferris Larry Froess, P.E. Project Managers Christopher Meyer Office Manager BUILDING STANDARDS OFFICE Kristen Driskell Deputy Director EFFICIENCY DIVISION Drew Bohan Executive Director DISCLAIMER Staff members of the California Energy Commission prepared this report. As such, it does not necessarily represent the views of the Energy Commission, its employees, or the State of California. The Energy Commission, the State of California, its employees, contractors and subcontractors make no warrant, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the information in this report; nor does any party represent that the uses of this information will not infringe upon privately owned rights. This report has not been approved or disapproved by the Energy Commission nor has the Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the information in this report. Acknowledgments The Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Energy Standards) were first adopted and put into effect in 1978 and have been updated periodically in the intervening years. The Energy Standards are a unique California asset that have placed the State on the forefront of energy efficiency, sustainability, energy independence, and climate change issues, and have provided a template for national standards within the United States as well as for other countries around the globe. They have benefitted from the conscientious involvement and enduring commitment to the public good of many persons and organizations along the way. The 2019 Energy Standards development and adoption process continues a long-standing practice of maintaining the Standards with technical rigor, challenging but achievable design and construction practices, public engagement, and full consideration of the views of stakeholders. The 2019 Energy Standards revision and the supporting documents were conceptualized, evaluated and justified through the excellent work of Energy Commission staff and consultants working under contract to the Energy Commission, supported by the utility-organized Codes and Standards Enhancement (CASE) Initiative, and shaped by the participation of over 150 stakeholders and the contribution of over 1,300 formal public comments. We would like to acknowledge Commissioner Andrew McAllister and his adviser, Martha Brooks, P.E. for their unwavering leadership throughout the standards development. Larry Froess, P.E., who served as project manager and senior engineer of the nonresidential and residential alternative calculation methods; Payam Bozorgchami, P.E., who served as project manager and senior engineer for the 2019 Energy Standards; Bill Pennington, Special Advisor to the Efficiency Division, who provided overall guidance and contributed to the technical content of the Standards documents; Mazi Shirakh, P.E., who served as the senior engineer and senior technical lead for solar photovoltaic standards; Christopher Meyer, who served as the Manager for the Buildings Standards Office; Peter Strait, who served as the supervisor for the Standards Development Unit; Todd Ferris, who served as the supervisor for the Standards Tools Unit; Rebecca Westmore, Matt Chalmers, Jacqueline Moore and Galen Lemei, who provided legal counsel; and technical staff contributors of the Building Standards office including Mark Alatorre, P.E.; Courtney Jones; Simon Lee, P.E; Jeff Miller, P.E; Ronald Balneg; Adrian Ownby; Dee Anne Ross; Michael Shewmaker; Alexis Smith; Danny Tam; Gabriel Taylor, P.E.; RJ Wichert; Thao Chau; and Ingrid Neumann. Kristen Driskell, while serving as Appliances and Outreach and Education Office Manager, provided legal counsel to the staff. Additional staff input and assistance came from the Energy Hotline staff and the Energy Commission’s web team. Critical support for the staff in conceptualizing, evaluating, and reviewing this document came from NORESCO, L’Monte Information Services, Gard Analytics, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Hitchcock Consulting, 360 Analytics, Wrightsoft Corporation, Taylor Engineering, McHugh Energy, Gabel Associates, Energy Solutions, E3, PECI, Heschong Mahone Group, and the Codes and Standards Enhancement (CASE) initiative which is supported by a consortium of California utility providers which includes the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison Company, San Diego Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Gas Company, the Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. ii ABSTRACT The California Energy Commission’s 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Nonresidential Buildings allow compliance by either a prescriptive or performance method. The performance compliance approach uses computer modeling software to trade off efficiency measures. Performance compliance is typically the most popular compliance method because of the flexibility it provides in building design. Compliance software must be certified by the Energy Commission, following rules established for modeling software. This document establishes the rules for the process of creating a building model, describing how the proposed design (energy use) is defined, how the standard design (energy budget) is established, and ends with what is reported on the Performance Compliance Certificate (PRF-01). This Nonresidential Alternative Calculation Method Reference Manual explains how the proposed and standard designs are determined. This document also establishes the procedure for performance calculation, necessary rule sets, reference method for testing compliance software accuracy, and the minimum reporting requirements. The 2019 compliance software is the simulation and compliance rule implementation software specified by the Energy Commission. The compliance manager, called California Building Energy Code Compliance (CBECC), models all energy performance features affecting compliance of a building. To describe CBECC, this manual is divided into sections which describe how components, such as a wall or window, are modeled for the proposed design and standard design. This manual also describes how these components are reported on the Performance Compliance Certificate (PRF-01) for verification by the building enforcement agency. Keywords: ACM, Alternative Calculation Method, Building Energy Efficiency Standards, California Energy Commission, California Building Energy Code Compliance, CBECC, Performance Compliance Certificate (PRF-01), compliance manager, compliance software, computer compliance, energy budget, Time Dependent Valuation (TDV), energy standards, energy use, prescriptive compliance, performance compliance, design, proposed design, standard design, VRF Please use the following citation for this report: Payam Bozorgchami, P.E., Todd Ferris, Larry Froess, P.E., Simon Lee, Jeff Miller, P.E., Michael Shewmaker, Maziar Shirakh, P.E., Danny Tam, RJ Wichert. 2019 Nonresidential Alternative Calculation Method Reference Manual. California Energy Commission, Building Standards Office. CEC-400-2019-. iii Table of Contents 1. Overview 1-1 1.1 Purpose 1-1 1.2 Modeling Assumptions 1-1 1.3 Scope 1-1 1.4 Organization 1-1 1.5 Reference Method 1-2 1.6 Compliance 1-5 1.6.1 Type of Project Submittal ............................................................................................... 1-5 1.6.2 Scope of Compliance Calculations ................................................................................. 1-5 1.6.3 Climate Zones ................................................................................................................ 1-5 1.6.4 Time Dependent Valuation ............................................................................................. 1-6 1.6.5 Reporting Requirements for Unsupported Features ...................................................... 1-6 1.7 Approval Process 1-6 1.7.1 Application Checklist ...................................................................................................... 1-6 1.7.2 Types of Approval .......................................................................................................... 1-7 1.7.3 Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 1-8 1.7.4 Decertification of Compliance Software Programs ......................................................... 1-9 1.8 Vendor Requirements 1-10 1.8.1 Availability to Energy Commission ............................................................................... 1-10 1.8.2 Enforcement Agency Support ...................................................................................... 1-10 1.8.3 User Support ................................................................................................................ 1-11 1.8.4 Compliance Software Vendor Demonstration .............................................................. 1-11 2. General Modeling Procedures 2-1 2.1 General Requirements for User-Entered Data 2-1 2.1.1 General..........................................................................................................................