Standards & Compliance Briefing: ASHRAE Water Efficiency, Healthcare Facilities, UL Testing

by | Dec 11, 2012

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Changes regarding water efficiency have been proposed to ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings through the new addendum v. The addendum, which is open for review and comments until Jan 14, 2012, includes limits on the full-flush volume for all toilets at 1.28 gal per flush and limits on kitchen faucet capacity at 1.8 gpm. The addendum also would set limits on the use of municipal reclaimed water for irrigation, ASHRAE said.

A proposed standard from ASHRAE and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering – ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 189.3P, Standard for the Design, Construction and Operation of Sustainable High-Performance Health Care Facilities – is open for public comment until Jan. 21, 2013. The proposed standard would provide procedures and documentation requirements for the design, construction and operation of high-performance sustainable healthcare buildings. It would apply to patient care areas and related support areas within healthcare facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes and licensed outpatient facilities, AHSRAE said.

UL has launched its indoor air quality services in its Nansha testing service center in Guangzhou, China, in response to increasing demand in the Chinese market. The new IAQ services include product emissions testing, chemical content testing, indoor air quality certification, and advisory services. The services, which follow the Greenguard certification program, aim to help manufacturers assess sources of pollution such as volatile organic compounds, aldehydes, and phthalates in household electrical appliances, electronic products, furnishings, and building materials, UL said.

The Charlotte Fire Department’s Fire Station No. 42 has earned LEED Gold certification, and it is the first fire station built under the city’s 2009 sustainable facility policy. More than 40 percent of the building’s materials came from within a 500-mile region. About 20 percent of the materials used recycled content, and 75 percent of the construction waste was diverted from landfills, the department said.

SERGAZ, a Tunisian-Italian service company working on behalf of the Tunisian Pipeline Transit Company, has earned ISO 14001 certification for the management, monitoring and maintenance of facilities connected with its pipeline transportation system. The company is responsible for the maintenance of the pipeline linking Algeria to Italy, via Tunisia, through which more than 20 billion cubic meters of Algerian gas transit per year, writes African Manager.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi has earned ISO 14001 certification at its Blue Springs, Miss., facility. The Blue Springs plant began manufacturing the Toyota Corolla in 2011 and has taken steps in its operations to reduce waste and recycle materials, WTVA News Tupelo said.

EBI Consulting has been certified as a Sustainable Business Leader by the Sustainable Business Leader Program of Greater Boston. The environmental consulting company also said that its corporate headquarters have achieved the EPA Energy Star designation. Both certifications are based on EBI’s implementation of policies in the areas of energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, pollution prevention, transportation, local purchasing and local food, and sustainability management, EBI said.

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