Understanding Air Barriers

RGD is routinely contracted to conduct engineering surveys on existing buildings (primarily clubhouses for local country clubs). One of the issues that comes up on most the clubs we survey is the lack of an approved air barrier. Chapter 13 of the Florida Building Code requires a sealed air barrier between the air conditioned space and the outside. Sounds simple right? Well, in our experience many buildings fail in this requirement creating all sorts of potential air quality problems. Here's an article our principle engineer wrote on this issue:

Understanding Air Barriers ("Water Happens")

Energy Gauge Summit Lighting Issue

We use Energy Gauge Summit to produce Forms 400A-2004R and 400B-2004R as required by Chapter 13 (Energy Efficiency) of the Florida Building Code. One of the issues we have had is getting information from the lighting designer in a form that can be easily and accurately entered into Summit. We created a spreadsheet for this purpose that we distribute to the lighting designer while he or she is doing their design. On a recent project, the lighting designer informed us that the spreadsheet showed only a 0.9 W/sq.ft. allowance for dining facilities while Table 13-415.2.B allows 2.1 W/sq.ft. if the space is considered "Family Dining". We sent a help ticket to the friendly folks at Energy Gauge and got this reply:

Energy Gauge Knowledge Base Article - 2458