Home Owner Services | Title 24 |
| Q | What is Title 24? |
| A |
Title 24 is part of the California Code of Regulations.
Part 6 of Title 24 deals with California’s energy efficiency standards for residential and non-residential buildings
Effective October 1, 2005
The Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings were established in 1978 in response to a legislative mandate to reduce California's energy consumption. The standards are updated periodically to allow consideration and possible incorporation of new energy efficiency technologies and methods.
California's building efficiency standards (along with those for energy efficient appliances) have saved more than $56 billion in electricity and natural gas costs since 1978. It is estimated the standards will save an additional $23 billion by 2013.
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| Q | What does Title 24 affect? |
| A |
Duct Insulation – Levels depending on climate zone
Pipe Insulation – Hot water pipes to the kitchen have to be insulated
Duct Sealing – required when air conditioner/furnace is replaced or ducts are replaced
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| Q | For Duct Sealing /Insulation what are Climate Zones? |
| A |
To standardize calculations and to provide a basis for presenting the prescriptive requirements, the Energy Commission has established a set of standard climate data for each of the 16 climate zones. Cities may occasionally straddle two climate zones. In these instances, the exact building location and correct climate zone should be verified with the building department or by the person preparing the compliance documentation before any calculations are performed. If a single building development is split by a climate zone boundary line, it must be designed to the requirements of the climate zone in which 50% or more of the dwelling units are contained.
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| Q | How do I determine what Climate Zone a city is in? |
| A |
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| Q | What exactly is meant by air conditioning/furnace or duct replacement? |
| A |
Duct sealing is now required in climate zones 2 and 9 through 16 when an air conditioner or furnace is replaced and when new ducts are added or ducts are altered in an existing home.
The state had determined that the replacement is an “Alteration”.
Examples of an Alteration that do require duct testing:
- Replacement of an air conditioning condenser, heat pump condenser, Gas/ Electric/Heat Pump package unit or indoor air handler/coil of a split system air conditioner.
- Replacement of a furnace
The state has determined that a “Repair” does not fall under these rules.
Examples of a repair that does not require duct testing:
- Replacing a failed compressor in an air conditioner but not replacing the entire air conditioner.
- Replacing a failed fan motor or gas valve in a furnace but not replacing the entire furnace.
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| Q | What is “Duct Sealing”? |
| A |
Duct Sealing and Insulation
A significant new requirement in the 2005 Standards is that an existing duct system must be sealed and verified by a HERS rater when portions of the heating and cooling system are altered. The requirement applies in climate zones 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. The ducts must be sealed (as described later below) under any of the following circumstances:
- An air handler is installed or replaced.
- An outdoor condensing unit of a split system air conditioner or heat pump is installed or replaced.
- A cooling or heating coil is installed or replaced.
- A furnace heat exchanger is installed or replaced.
- When more than 40 ft of new or replacement ducts are installed in unconditioned space, in addition to the duct sealing requirements described above, the ducts must also meet the duct insulation requirements.
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| Q | Is there any duct system that is exempt from testing? |
| A |
Yes
- Ducts that have already been sealed, tested and certified by a HERS rater.
- Duct systems with less than 40 linear ft of duct in unconditioned spaces.
- Duct systems that are insulated or sealed with asbestos.
- If a residence has more than one duct system, only the ducts connected to the altered equipment need to be sealed and verified.
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| Q | When are ducts in Compliance? |
| A |
There are four options to showing compliance for existing duct systems:
- Total leakage is less than 15% of fan airflow.
- Leakage to the outside is less than 10% of fan airflow.
- Leakage is reduced by more than 60% compared to before the alteration and a smoke test shows that all accessible leaks have been sealed.
- If the three leakage targets cannot be met, then compliance can be achieved by sealing all accessible leaks verified by a HERS rater inspection.
- Instead of meeting the duct sealing requirements, a high efficiency air conditioner meeting the SEER and EER efficiencies shown in Table 8-3 may be installed.
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| Q | What is meant by Accessible in relation to sealing Ducts? |
| A |
Accessibility
Accessible is defined as having access thereto, but which first may require removal or opening of access panels, doors, or similar obstructions. For example, if walls and drywalls have to be moved or removed, or if the ducts are buried under insulation, or if a joint in the duct system is in too small a space between framing member for someone to be able to get to the joint to seal it, then the duct system is not accessible. All other duct systems must meet the duct sealing requirements of the Standards.
- Note that only the inaccessible portions of the duct systems do not have to be sealed; all other parts of the duct system that are accessible must still be sealed.
- A smoke test may be employed to locate the leaks and to assess whether or not they are accessible.
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| Q | Central gas furnace stopped working. 30 years old. Decision is made to replace with a new more efficient unit rather than repair the existing one. What are the requirements? |
| A |
Mandatory requirements apply to the components being replaced.
- The furnace must meet minimum efficiency requirements.
- If the thermostat is being replaced then the new thermostat must be a setback.
- Any new ducts must meet insulation and construction requirements.
- The new heating unit must also be a natural gas unit (or a heat pump that provides equal or better TDV energy performance).
- An electric resistance furnace is not an option.
- If the home is located in climate zones 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16, then the most significant requirement is that duct sealing and testing is required.
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| Q | Ductwork is being replaced because of failure due to Normal Wear and Tear. What requirements apply to the replacement duct? |
| A |
This is an alteration since no new conditioned space is being added. The mandatory measures for ducts apply. If more than 40 ft of duct is replaced, Package D duct insulation and sealing requirements also apply which require diagnostic testing of the whole duct system.
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| Q | An up-flow air-handling unit with a furnace and air conditioning coil is located on a platform in the garage of an existing house. The platform is used as a return air plenum. The air-handling unit is being replaced and the platform is being repositioned to the corner of the garage (three ft away from the current location). What requirements apply to this alteration? |
| A |
The mandatory requirements apply to this alteration. In particular, §150 (m) prohibits raised platforms or building cavities from being used to convey conditioned air (including return air and supply air). When the platform is relocated, it is being altered, and the mandatory requirement applies. A sheet metal or other suitable duct must be installed to carry the return air to the replaced air handler. This requirement would not apply if the platform were not being altered. In addition, the prescriptive duct sealing requirements apply per §152(b) because the air handler is being replaced, unless one of the exceptions applies.
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| Q | How will I know when a duct sealant test is required? |
| A |
The technician will inform the authorization rep that he has confirmed via the Title 24 standards that this alteration to the HVAC system does require duct sealant testing.
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| Q | Who pays for the duct sealant test? |
| A |
The duct sealant test will be classified as a cost relating to permits and is not covered by first American as per limits of liability #6. The cost to perform the test will go to the homeowner.
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| Q | What happens when the homeowner agrees to pay for the duct sealant test and technician determines that the total leakage exceeds 15% of fan airflow? |
| A |
Depending on contract version, First American will cover the cost to seal all accessible duct leaks.
Contract versions H5, H5U, H5ZU, H6, H6U, H9, and H9U have a maximum liability amount that the company will pay for ductwork repair or replacement of $200.00
All other California version contracts do not carry this maximum liability amount and First American will cover costs associated with sealing, repairing, or replacing leaking ductwork (with exception to insulation) to bring it into compliance.
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| Q | What if the technician claims that he does not have the equipment to perform the duct sealant test for the homeowner? |
| A |
Contractor will need to subcontract a third party company to do this test to determine the percentage of leakage. |
| Q | What if the homeowner refuses to pay for all the costs associated with obtaining the permit? |
| A |
First American will need to release our liability by cashing out the homeowner in lieu of the covered equipment. |
| Q | If homeowner has their condenser replaced in the summer, pays for all the HERS testing costs, obtains the permit, and in the winter has their furnace replaced, do they have to have a HERS inspection performed again? |
| A |
No. If the fan flow passed inspection after the condenser was installed, then it would not be altered by installing a furnace. |
| Q | What if the ductwork is made of or has insulation made of asbestos, and the tech will be disturbing it in order to complete the job? |
| A |
Existing duct systems with asbestos are exempt from the duct testing process, however First Americans maintains it’s zero tolerance policy for asbestos.
If the Repair / Replacement will disturb the asbestos the homeowner would still need to have this abated prior to our technician proceeding with the job.
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| Q | What does HERS stand for? |
| A |
Home Energy Rating System
HERS Rater
The HERS rater is a person certified by an Energy Commission-approved HERS provider to perform the necessary field verification and diagnostic testing required for demonstrating compliance with the standards. As long as the documentation author is not an employee of the builder or subcontractor whose work they are verifying, they can also act as the HERS rater.
CHEERS = California Home Energy Efficiency Rating
CalCERTS = California Certified Energy Rating & Testing Services
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| Q | A single family residence with one gas water heater is replacing the water heater with a new gas water heater. How does this comply? |
| A |
This system must comply with the mandatory requirements for alterations. This includes a certified water heater and pipe insulation on the first five ft of hot and cold water pipes. Since compliance with the annual water heating budget is not required, no water heating calculations are required.
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| Q | I have a residential building that was made in the 1920’s. It has a freestanding gas furnace and I want to change it to an electric wall heater. Is this permitted? |
| A |
No. The Building Energy Efficiency Standards §152 (b) B (ii) states that the new space conditioning system be limited to natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, or the existing fuel type unless it can be demonstrated that the source energy use of the new system is more efficient than the existing system. For your situation you would have to use gas or a heat pump for compliance.
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