Recent changes to the Massachusetts Energy Code aimed at addressing the Massachusetts operational carbon reduction mandate have created significant new compliance requirements for the building enclosure design process. This session will explain the impacts of the recent updates to the Stretch Energy Code as well as the addition of a second, more advanced tier of the Stretch Energy Code known as the Specialized Opt-In Stretch Code. You will learn about the new requirements—which include whole-building airtightness testing for all buildings, an updated enclosure backstop calculation, and thermal bridging accounting and R-value derating—as well as the new, more specific building enclosure definitions. The new requirements explicitly link the performance of the enclosure and mechanical systems, making them the primary elements to achieve energy efficiency targets and improve building performance for owners and occupants.
What you’ll learn
- Examine how the energy modeling required under each compliance path in the updated Massachusetts Stretch Code and Specialized Opt-In Stretch Code will drive and define building enclosure requirements, even beyond what is required by the updated backstop calculation and what has been done in response to past code update cycles.
- Identify the impacts that building enclosure airtightness requirements in the updated Massachusetts Stretch Code and Specialized Opt-In Stretch Code will have on building enclosure detailing and construction phase testing.
- Recognize how updates to the Massachusetts Energy Code that require accounting for and documenting thermal bridging will affect the design process.
- Understand how the new Massachusetts Energy Code compliance pathways, including Passive House design and certification, influence project permitting and substantial completion timelines, and how the “traditional” design process may need to be modified.
