April 30, 2024

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Fan-Energy-Index Requirements in U.S. Codes, Standards, and Regulations

Formalized in ANSI/AMCA Standard 208-18, Calculation of the Fan Energy Index, fan energy index (FEI) is a representation of the energy performance of an entire fan system—the fan, the motor, and the drive. It establishes a baseline efficiency and resulting baseline power that varies with airflow and pressure and can be applied to most types of commercial and industrial fans and blowers. Instead of a peak-efficiency threshold, it establishes a “range of compliant operations,” optimizing fan, motor, and drive selections for the conditions under which they will operate.

For this issue of AMCA inmotion e-News, AMCA International staff created a table (Table 1) summarizing FEI provisions in ASHRAE and International Code Council (ICC) model energy codes, California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards, and U.S. Department of Energy and California appliance/equipment regulations. A second table (Table 2) provides hyperlinks to sources of the referenced documents, while a third table (Table 3) lists AMCA International resources, including a link for easily finding AMCA International-certified FEI ratings.

Note the information in Table 1 was distilled for ease of use. Readers are advised to consult the source materials for exact language.

TABLE 1. FEI provisions in model energy codes, building energy-efficiency standards, and appliance/equipment regulations.

TABLE 2. Referenced codes, standards, and regulations.

TABLE 3. AMCA International resources.

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Your Questions About Severe-Duty Louvers Answered

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will officially begin on June 1, with AccuWeather experts predicting storms so numerous that meteorologists may for the first time have to consult a supplemental list for naming them.

Historically warm water across the Atlantic Ocean and the return of La Niña in the eastern Pacific Ocean are expected to yield across the Atlantic basin 20 to 25 named storms, including eight to 12 hurricanes, four to seven major hurricanes, and four to six direct U.S. impacts. This is all above the 30-year historical average of 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, three major hurricanes, and four direct U.S. impacts, AccuWeather reports.

2023 saw 19 named storms, including seven hurricanes, three major hurricanes, and four direct U.S. impacts.

For the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which will run through the end of November, AccuWeather is predicting an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a measure of the intensity and longevity of tropical systems, of 175 to 225, above the historical average of 123.

The Texas coast, the Florida Panhandle, South Florida, and the Carolinas are at a higher-than-average risk of direct impacts this season, AccuWeather says, while cautioning residents near other coastal locations to remain vigilant.

As more emphasis is placed on building resilience and requirements for architectural products for hurricane-prone regions gain wider adoption, AMCA International presents an update of “Your Questions About Severe-Duty Louvers Answered” from the award-winning 2021 edition of AMCA inmotion magazine.

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FREE DOWNLOAD: Updated AMCA Louver Listing-Label-Program Publication 512

AMCA International announces the release of AMCA Publication 512-23, AMCA Listing Label Program.

AMCA Publication 512-23 supersedes AMCA Publication 512-09.

The purpose of the AMCA Listing Label Program is to provide follow-up service for louvers tested in accordance with ANSI/AMCA Standard 540, Test Methods for Louvers Impacted by Wind Borne Debris, and/or ANSI/AMCA Standard 550, Test Method for High Velocity Wind Driven Rain Resistant Louvers.

Notable changes to AMCA Publication 512 include:

• New labeling requirements.
• New definitions.
• A new requirement concerning Miami-Dade County-approved/certified test reports.
• Revised qualifying statements.
• A new catalog requirement.
• New requirements for electronic print catalogs and electronic product-selection programs.
• A rewritten verification-test procedure.
• An expansion of the permitted uses of the listing label.
• A rewritten procedure for AMCA International-recognized laboratories.
• The provision of design allowances.

AMCA Publication 512-23 is available in PDF format free of charge. Printed copies are available for $5 for AMCA members and $10 for non-members. To obtain a copy, click here.

For more information about AMCA Publication 512-23, contact Director of Publications and Standards Joe Brooks, PE, at [email protected] or Senior Manager, Publications and Standards Shruti Kohli-Bhargava at [email protected].

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AMCA Updates Fans-and-Systems Publication 201

AMCA International Inc. announces the release of AMCA Publication 201-23, Fans and Systems.

Superseding AMCA Publication 201-02 (R2011), Fans and Systems, AMCA Publication 201-23 includes general information about how fans are tested in laboratories and how their performance ratings are calculated and published. Also, it reviews some of the more important reasons for decreased performance once a fan is installed in a system. Allowances, called system-effect factors (SEF), are given. SEF must be taken into account by system designers, if a reasonable estimate of fan/system performance is to be determined.

AMCA Publication 201-23 includes findings from several research projects performed by AMCA and other laboratories. As a result of the research, the definition of outlet system effect was revised.

The cost of AMCA Publication 201-23 is $45 for AMCA members and $90 for non-members in printed or PDF format and $61 for AMCA members and $122 for non-members in both printed and PDF formats. To purchase a copy, click here.

For more information about AMCA Publication 201-23, contact Director of Publications and Standards Joe Brooks, PE, at [email protected] or Senior Manager, Publications and Standards Shruti Kohli-Bhargava at [email protected].

Pedestrians wear face masks as the sky over New York City turns an eerie orange from smoke from wildfires burning in Canada the afternoon of June 7, 2023. New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul called the worsening air quality “an emergency crisis.” Credit: Michael Nagle/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

Maintaining Indoor-Air Quality with Air Curtains

During the spring and summer of 2023, smoke from wildfires raging out of control in eastern and western Canada blanketed cities across North America, prompting local health officials to issue air-quality alerts and encourage people to stay inside, renewing public interest in indoor-air quality (IAQ) sparked by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic three years earlier and prompting building owners and managers to take a hard look at the conditions inside their facilities. With the retrofit or replacement of a ventilation system not always practical or feasible, smaller-scale solutions for maintaining IAQ are needed.

Typically installed at building entrances, air curtains have been used for decades to minimize the cross-migration of warm and cold air from buoyancy pressures and wind, saving on air-conditioning costs, and to provide environmental separation by repelling dust and dirt, fumes, odors, and flying insects. Now, evidence suggesting air curtains also can play a role in maintaining IAQ is emerging.

“Maintaining Indoor-Air Quality with Air Curtains,” from the 2023 edition of award-winning AMCA inmotion magazine, discusses results of two experiments: one of an ultraviolet-lamp-equipped air curtain’s ability to disinfect air and one of an air curtain’s effectiveness in preventing airborne particulates from entering a building. To read the article, click here.

THIS JUST IN: 2023 Edition of AMCA inmotion Wins American Business Award

The 2023 edition of AMCA inmotion magazine on April 25 was named a winner of a Bronze “Stevie” as part of The 22nd Annual American Business Awards.

Open to all organizations—public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small—operating in the United States, the American Business Awards, nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning “crowned,” are billed as “the world’s premier business awards … created in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals.” The 2023 edition of AMCA inmotion is being recognized in the Other Publication - Association or Non-Profit category.

Edited by AMCA Senior Manager of Industry Engagement and Content Scott Arnold and art-directed by Chicago-based freelance designer, illustrator, and photographer Bonnie James, the 2023 edition of AMCA inmotion features contributions from:

• Michael Ivanovich, senior director, global affairs, AMCA, with the article “Dawn of a New Era: The Regulation of Commercial and Industrial Fans and Blowers.”
• Christian Taber, BEMP, HBDP, CEM, principal engineer, codes and standards, Big Ass Fans, with the article “U.S. Regulations for Air-Circulating Fans.”
• Andy Ross, senior mechanical engineer, Mars Air Systems, with the article “Maintaining Indoor-Air Quality with Air Curtains.”
• John Sofra, director of sales, North America, Kinetics Noise Control Inc., with the article “Mitigating Environmental Noise from the Operation of Mechanical Equipment.”
• Michael J. Bulzomi, product manager, commercial dampers, Greenheck, with the article “Selecting Ceiling Radiation Dampers.”

More than 300 professionals around the world participated in the judging process for this year’s Stevie Awards. Among the judges’ comments about the 2023 edition of AMCA inmotion were:

• “A comprehensive, no-nonsense publication. Informative articles.”
• “Great industry piece with informative and interesting information that is digestible and good use of layout and graphics. Good work!”
• “Clever cover design and easy to navigate online magazine. Publication is focussed [sic] on a specific industry and contains many relevant news and articles that are easy to read with included infographics and diagrams.”
• “The nomination clearly states the mission of the organization as well as the communication objective of the entry, and both are aligned.”

2024 Stevie Award winners will be honored at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on June 11.