{"id":15209,"date":"2012-02-01T14:19:28","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T19:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?p=15209"},"modified":"2016-02-18T16:01:54","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T21:01:54","slug":"astm-e2813-and-the-owners-project-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/astm-e2813-and-the-owners-project-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"ASTM E2813 and the Owner\u2019s Project Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Images<\/a>
Images courtesy Pie Consulting and Engineering<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The majority of large-scale design\/ construction projects revolve around a single concept known as the owner\u2019s project requirements (OPR). Developed throughout each project phase, these criteria essentially define the performance specifications for the building as a whole.<\/p>\n

\"Testing<\/a>
Testing under ASTM E1186, Standard Practices for Air Leakage Site Detection in Building Envelopes and Air Barrier Systems.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are dozens of factors considered in establishing OPR for a given project, including energy consumption, environment, safety, security, durability, and operation. Design aspects of the building enclosure have also evolved dramatically over the past decade\u2014new and improved materials, better understanding of how enclosures perform, updated codes and standards, building information modeling (BIM), and additional project delivery methods (e.g.<\/i> design-build). Each of these aspects has an impact on the others, which has invariably resulted in a more complex process of how a project unfolds and is ultimately completed.<\/p>\n

This increased complexity often means significant time (a valuable resource) in ensuring proper performance test standards are specified, building codes are satisfied, the design is constructible, and, ultimately, OPR is satisfied. The recently published ASTM E2813, Standard Practice for Building Enclosure <\/i>Commissioning<\/i>, provides the architect of record (AOR) a single-source guideline for establishing OPR and providing a clear pathway to accomplishing each project phase to satisfy the requirements related to the building enclosure (Figure 1).<\/p>\n

\"Verification<\/a>
Verification of window performance with ASTM E1105, Standard Test Method for Field Determination of Water Penetration of Installed Exterior Windows, Skylights, Doors, and Curtain Walls by Uniform or Cyclic Static Air Pressure Difference.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ASTM E2813 is essentially a vehicle for combining existing requirements from dozens of test standards covering several building enclosure elements, as well as American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Guideline 0, The Commissioning Process<\/i>, and National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Guideline 3, Building Enclosure <\/i>Commissioning Process<\/i>. Similarly, the various design, performance, and operational requirements covering the elements comprising the building enclosure can be combined into a single specification section that references ASTM E2813. In fact, Section 01 91 19.43\u2013Exterior Enclosure Commissioning has been included in MasterFormat<\/i> since at least the 2004 edition, but has yet to be implemented on a widespread basis. The AOR can now simply reference one section that includes such references in the individual specification sections.<\/p>\n

A building enclosure commissioning (BECx) process to ensure high performance provides myriad benefits to the owner, AOR, and contractor (similar to the processes by which mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are commissioned to verify compliance with OPR). Benefits of BECx include:<\/p>\n