The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) was founded in 1894 and has become one of the most influential industry sources for standards and code writing. ASHSRAE standards address building envelope and system requirements for commercial buildings, residential buildings higher than three stories, and semi-conditioned buildings (warehouses, etc.). ASHRAE 90.1 is the nation’s model standard for establishing the energy performance requirements of these building types.

The pertinent standards relating to polyiso and the building envelope are:

ASHRAE STANDARD 90.1
This standard represents the minimum required prescriptive R-value (resistance to heat flow) for roof and wall insulation levels. The R-value requirements for this standard were recently increased by 33% for climate zones 2 thru 8. The above-deck roof insulation requirements for those climate zones go from R-15 to R-20.

ASHRAE STANDARD 189 (Proposed)
The proposed ASHRAE Standard 189: Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (February 2008), provides minimum requirements for the design of sustainable buildings to balance environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well-being, and community sensitivity. ASHRAE Standard 189 uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System as a key resource offering a baseline that will drive green building into mainstream building practices.

For more information about ASHRAE, or to find content about specific standards they have published or are working on, please visit them at www.ashrae.org.