Several proposed changes to a standard that will address energy performance in rating programs are open for public comment.

ASHRAE Standard 214P, Standard for Determining and Expressing Building Energy Performance in a Rating Program, will provide a standardized approach for determining and expressing building energy performance in a rating program and standardizes the content of a label associated with the energy component of a rating program. It also will establish minimum requirements for rating program documentation.

The proposed standard is open for public comment from Aug. 5 until Sept. 19, 2016. To learn more or to comment, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

There are many entities in the marketplace that rate buildings utilizing a number of different building rating systems yielding varying results, according to Wayne Stoppelmoor, chair of the Standard 214P committee. The proposed standard is meeting a need for uniformity in the building energy labeling and disclosure process.

The standard underwent a public advisory review in August, resulting in 40 comments.

One of the changes made as a result of that public review was revision of the title, purpose and scope to better reflect the actual content of the standard. The change inserted a section that restricts the standard to only apply to the energy component of a rating program. The title, purpose and scope also was revised to state that the standard is to be used with one or more energy performance metrics.

Other major changes to the proposed standard include:
 • Revision to allow the rating program to define its methodology sampling rate
 • Addition of two means for an assessor to demonstrate competence
 • Addition of a Code of Conduct section