7-2-8: ADA COUNTY AMENDMENTS TO THE 2018 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE:

   A.   The commercial provisions of the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, as adopted, are hereby amended as follows:

      1.   Chapter 1 (CE) "Scope and Administration" is amended as follows:

      Fees and permits issued shall be part of a validly issued Ada County Building Code Permit.

      Refunds may be issued as part of a refund of fees paid for an Ada County Building Code Permit.

      Any person who shall continue any work after having been served with a stop work order, except such work as that person is directed to perform to remove a violation or unsafe condition, shall be subject to the penalties as set forth in Ada County Code, Title 7, Chapter 2.

         a.   Minor alterations shall include, but are not limited to, the following: partition walls constructed within a defined room; relocation of or existing openings or installation of new doors and windows in non-load bearing walls and not in construction meant to compartmentalize fire; window replacement in unaltered existing openings; roof repairs involving installation of less than one hundred (100) square feet of new roof covering; and new suspended ceilings that are not part of a required fire resistive assembly.

         b.   Minor alterations shall not include: work that alters the fire resistive characteristics of the building or fire suppression systems; work that creates new openings in construction meant to compartmentalize fire such as fire walls, fire barriers, fore partitions, smoke barriers, smoke partitions, horizontal assemblies, shaft enclosures, stair enclosures; work that increases the floor area or height of the building; work that changes the structural load path of the building for gravity or horizontal loads; work that reduces the thermal resistant capacity of the building envelop; changes in the occupancy classification of the building or space; increases in the floor loads.

         The following low-energy buildings, or portions thereof separated from the remainder of the building by building thermal envelope assemblies complying with this section, shall be exempt from the building thermal envelope provisions of Section C402.

         1.    Those with a peak design rate of energy usage less than 3.4 Btu/h • ft2 (10.7 W/m2) or 1.0 watt per square foot (10.7 W/m2) of floor area for space conditioning purposes.

         2.   Those that do not contain conditioned space.

         3.   Greenhouses.

         4.   Accessory utility and storage buildings and sports practice buildings accessory to A, B, and E occupancies where buildings maintain no heating or cooling or where intermittent heating and cooling systems are installed.

         5.   Buildings for domestic water wells, irrigation wells, sewer pump facilities, and sewer lift station buildings where equipment produces internal heat loads and where intermittent heating or cooling is provided to prevent freezing or overheating of equipment.

      1.   The entire floor area of all stories that have any spaces directly under a roof.

      2.   The entire floor area of all stories that have a building entrance or loading dock.

      3.   Representative above-grade wall sections of the building totaling at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the above-grade wall area enclosing the remaining conditioned space. Floor area tested under subparagraphs 1 or 2 of this exception shall not be included in the twenty-five percent (25%) of the above- grade wall sections tested under this subparagraph.

      7.   Unusual outdoor air contaminate conditions - Systems where special outside air filtration and treatment for the reduction and treatment of unusual outdoor contaminants, makes an air economizer infeasible.

   B.   The residential provisions of the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, as adopted, are hereby amended as follows:

      Fees and permits issued shall be part of a validly issued Ada County Building Code Permit.

      Refunds may be issued as part of a refund of fees paid for an Ada County Building Code Permit.

      Any person who shall continue any work after having been served with a stop work order, except such work as that person is directed to perform to remove a violation or unsafe condition, shall be subject to the penalties as set forth in Ada County Code, Title 7, Chapter 2.

         CONDITIONED SPACE. An area, room or space that is enclosed within the building thermal envelope and that is directly or indirectly heated or cooled. Spaces are indirectly heated or cooled where they communicate through openings with conditioned spaces; where they are separated from conditioned spaces by uninsulated walls, floors or ceilings; or where they contain uninsulated ducts, piping or other sources of heating or cooling. This definition shall not apply to garage spaces or other similar spaces where heating or cooling is installed for frost protection or intermittent use.

      Delete the rows for climate zones “5 and Marine 4", and “6" of Table R402.1.1, and add new climate zone rows “5" and “6" and a new footnote k as follows:

 

   k.   For residential log home building thermal envelope construction requirements see section R402.6.

    TABLE R402.1.4

 

      1.   Until June 30, 2021, the building thermal envelope shall comply with Section R402.4.1.1 (Installation) and either Section R402.4.1.2 (Testing) or Section 402.4.1.3 (Visual Inspection).

      2.   Effective July 1, 2021, the building thermal envelope of a minimum of twenty percent (20%) of all new single-family homes constructed by each builder shall comply with Section R402.4.1.1 (Installation) and Section R402.4.1.2 (Testing). The authority having jurisdiction may:

         2.1   Determine how to enforce this requirement, starting with the fifth house and continuing with each subsequent fifth house.

         2.2   Waive this requirement if significant testing indicates the five (5) air changes per hour (ACH) requirement is consistently being met or exceeded (resulting in a lower ACH).

         2.3   Grant exceptions to this requirement in rural areas where testing equipment is not available or cost effective.

      3.   Effective July 1, 2021, the building thermal envelope of eighty percent (80%) of all new single-family homes constructed by each builder shall comply with Section R402.4.1.1 (Installation) and either Section R402.4.1.2 (Testing) or Section 402.4.1.3 (Visual Inspection).

      4.   The sealing methods between dissimilar materials shall allow for differential expansion and contraction.

      The components of the building thermal envelope as listed in Table R402.4.1.1 shall be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and the criteria listed in Table R402.4.1.1, as applicable to the method of construction.

      Testing building thermal envelope tightness and insulation installation shall be considered acceptable when tested air leakage is less than five (5) air changes per hour (ACH) when tested with a blower door at a pressure of 33.5psf (50 Pa). Testing shall occur after rough in and after installation of penetrations of the building envelope, including penetrations of utilities, plumbing, electrical, ventilation and combustion appliances. Testing shall be conducted in accordance with RESNET/ICC 380, ASTM E 779 or ASTM E 1827 and reported at a pressure of 0.2-inch w.g. (50 Pascals). During testing:

      1. Exterior windows and doors, fireplace and stove doors shall be closed, but not sealed;

      2. Dampers shall be closed, but not sealed, including exhaust, intake, makeup air, backdraft and flue dampers;

      3. Interior doors shall be open;

      4. Exterior openings for continuous ventilation systems and heat recovery ventilators shall be closed and sealed;

      5. Heating and cooling system(s) shall be turned off;

      6. HVAC ducts shall not be sealed; and

      7. Supply and return registers shall not be sealed.

      1. Sections 402.2 through 402.3, Section 403.3.1 (Insulation), Section 404.1 (Lighting Equipment) and Table 402.6 (Log Home Prescriptive Thermal Envelope Requirements By Component);

      2. Section 405 (Simulated Performance Alternative); or

      3. REScheck (U.S. Department of Energy Building Codes Program).

   Add a new Table R402.6 as follows:

   LOG HOME PRESCRIPTIVE THERMAL ENVELOPE REQUIREMENTS BY COMPONENT

For SI: 1 foot = 304.8 mm.

      1.   Piping serving more than one (1) dwelling unit.

      2.   Piping located outside the conditioned space.

      3.   Piping located under a floor slab.

      4.   Buried piping.

      5.   Supply and return piping in recirculation systems other than demand recirculation systems.

      A minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of the lamps in permanently installed lighting fixtures shall be high-efficacy lamps or a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of the lamps in permanently installed lighting fixtures shall contain only high efficacy lamps.

   R406.3 Energy Rating Index. Delete the paragraphs and replace with the following:

      The Energy Rating Index (ERI) shall be determined in accordance with RESNET/ICC 301. Energy used to recharge or refuel a vehicle used for transportation on roads that are not on the building site shall not be included in the ERI reference design or the rated design.

 

(Ord. 592, 8-2-2005; amd. Ord. 578, 11-13-2007; amd. Ord. 725, 5-5-2009; amd. Ord. 781, 5-17-2011; amd. Ord. 817, 1-7-2014; amd. Ord. 836, 1-6-2015; amd. Ord. 879, 2-13-2018; amd. Ord. 919, 2-16-2021; amd. Ord. 984, 10-22-2024)