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RESNET to Embark on Effort to Develop Commercial Building Energy Rating Program
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RESNET has created the COMNET program for rating the building performance of commercial and high-rise multifamily buildings. RESNET was aided in this effort by technical and program leadership from the Architectural Energy Corporation, Institute for Market Transformation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and funding from the Energy Foundation and the Sea Change Foundation, the New Buildings Institute (NBI). The first task of COMNET was to develop guidelines for the energy modeling the energy performance of commercial buildings. The COMNET modeling guidelines serves three distinct purposes:
- Establishing eligibility for federal tax deductions per section 179D of the Internal Revenue Service code.
- Calculating the percentage savings for crediting energy performance for sustainable building rating systems such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED.
- Estimating the annual energy use for a building in the design phase for the purpose of energy labels.
In 2009 NBI, the Institute for Market Transformation and the Natural Resources Defense Council approached RESNET about bringing COMNET into RESNET. At its annual board meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, the RESNET Board voted to incorporate COMNET within RESNET. It also voted to create a RESNET COMNET Standing Committee chaired by Charles Eley. The standing committee will be composed of the major stakeholders who are involved in the process of developing COMNET and representatives of RESNET. The committee was charged with making the following recommendations to the RESNET Board:
- Develop a statement of principles regarding the integration of COMNET into RESNET.
- Propose a charter and mission statement for the COMNET standing committee.
- Propose a 2011 operating budget for COMNET activities including a strategy for funding these activities.
- Adopt the modeling guidelines as a RESNET publication.
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