Changes to two standards supporting energy efficiency will encourage more effective use of building controls and solar energy systems.
Changes to ASHRAE’s new BACnet standard are designed to encourage the use of smart lighting controls and other building automation systems. The standard, ANSI/ASHRAE 135-2012, is the only open, consensus-developed standard for building controls and encourages interoperability among building equipment and systems from different manufacturers.
The new addendum also provides several improvements specific to alarm handling, such as improved fault handling, alarm distribution in scalability, and simplifications in alarm distribution allowing support for less complex products.
ASTM is reinstating a previously withdrawn standard as a response to surging development and demand for alternative energy.
ASTM E903 offers guidelines for assessing the performance of different material formulations – such as window glass, solar panel cover materials, heat management films, and optical components of solar energy systems – under realistic variations in the solar spectrum, thus encouraging the development for more durable, reliable PV products.
