Code of Maine Rules › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › 407 - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › Chapter 400 - ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR SUBSIDIZED MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENCES › Section 407-400-2 - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
"Addition" means new conditioned space which is attached to
				  an existing building.
"Air Barrier" means a material installed to retard air
				  infiltration and/or wind wash. An air barrier material may perform more than
				  one function, such as, but not limited to, also being a vapor retarder, or
				  either an exterior or interior building sheathing.
"Annual energy consumption," as used in
				   10
				  MRSA,1415-G {4), means annual energy
				  consumption for space conditioning calculated in Btu's.
"ASHRAE 90" means the current standard for energy
				  conservation in new building design developed and approved by the American
				  Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
"Assessed value" means the equalized assessed value of the
				  building established on the most recent April 1st
"Btu" means "British thermal unit, n approximately the amount
				  of heat required to raise one pound of water from 59F (Fahrenheit) to
				  60F.
"Capillary break" means a material or system installed to
				  stop the movement of moisture into a building by capillary action. A capillary
				  break may be provided by either one of two general methods: 1) use of a
				  material that has pore sizes so small as to be essentially nonexistent, such
				  as, but not limited to, sheet polyethylene and sheet metal: or, 2) use of
				  material that has pore sizes so large that water cannot move through it by
				  capillarity, such as, but not limited to, a 3 inch thick layer of clean 3/4
				  inch crushed stone.
"Ceiling" means the overhead section of a room, including
				  over the tops of walls enclosing that room. Ceilings may have any slope from
				  horizontal up to, but not including vertical.
"Common room" means rooms or areas in the building open to
				  all occupants of the building or which provide services to the building, such
				  as, but not limited to, entries, halls, lounges, utility rooms, public
				  restrooms, central kitchens, and central dining rooms.
"Degree day, heating" is a unit, based upon temperature
				  difference and time, used in estimating heating energy consumption. For any one
				  day, when the mean outdoor temperature is less than a 65 degrees Fahrenheit
				  reference temperature, there are as many Degree Days as degrees Fahrenheit
				  temperature difference between the mean temperature for the day and the
				  reference temperature. Annual Heating Degree Days (HDD) are the sum of the
				  degree days over a calendar year.
"Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms providing living
				  facilities for one or more persons. This includes units providing complete,
				  independent living facilities with permanent provisions for living, sleeping,
				  eating, cooking and sanitation, and units providing independent living
				  facilities with some shared or common use areas, such as, but not limited to,
				  bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, and/or dining rooms.
"Electric space heating equipment" means any heating system
				  which derives more than 50% of its heat energy input from electricity and has a
				  Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF) not in compliance with ASHRAE
				  90.1-1989.
"Foundation" means a wall below the floor nearest grade
				  serving as a support for a wall, column or other structural part of a
				  building.
"Heat energy input" means energy supplied to produce heat,
				  exclusive of energy supplied to transport and distribute the heat
				  produced.
"Heating Seasonal Performance Factor" means the combined
				  effects of heat pump heating and performance losses due to coil frost, defrost,
				  cycling under part-load conditions and use of supplemental resistance heat
				  during defrost as defined by the equation:
HSPF = Total heating provided during heating season, in Btu /
				  Total energy consumed by the system, in watthours
The HSPF is listed by manufacturers on equipment labels for
				  each of six regions defined in test procedures issued by the US Department of
				  Energy in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 10, Part 430
				  (1-1-92).
"Infiltration" means the uncontrolled movement of air into
				  and out of the conditioned space through cracks and interstices in the building
				  envelope.
"Insulation" means material primarily used to slow down heat
				  flow, and is limited to materials defined as insulation by the Federal Trade
				  Commission in 16 CFR Chapter 1, Part 460 (1-1-92), "Labeling and Advertising of
				  Home Insulation."
"Minimum unit R-value" means the R-value of an overall window
				  unit. The overall R-value is the area weighted average of the R-values for the
				  window frame, the edge of the glass, and the center of the glass, as defined
				  and prescribed in the 1989 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, or using Window
				  4.0, the PC computer program developed by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.
"Positive heat supply" means heat deliberately supplied to a
				  space by design, such as, but not limited to, a supply register, a radiator, or
				  a heating element.
"Public funds, guarantees, or bond proceeds" means any funds
				  provided to a person by any federal, state, county, or municipal governmental
				  or quasi-governmental agency to be used for constructing, renovating, or
				  remodeling multi-family residential buildings as defined in
				   10
				  MRSA,1415-G(1). This
				  includes, but is not limited to: grants, interest subsidies, funds from the
				  repayment of previously provided public funds, and donations of land or
				  services. This phrase shall hereafter be called "public funds."
"R-value" is an indication of the amount of resistance to
				  heat flow. Only R-values stated in labels, fact sheets, ads, or other
				  promotional material must be established through tests that meet the
				  requirements of the Federal Trade Commission as contained in 16 CFR Part 460
				  (1-1-92) - "Labeling and Advertising of Home Insulation" are acceptable.
				  R-values for unlabeled products shall be those found in the ASHRAE 1989
				  Handbook of Fundamentals, Chapter 22 - Thermal and Water Vapor Transmission
				  Data.
R-values may be rounded to the nearest 1/10th for tested
				  R-values of less than 10, and to the nearest whole number for R-values of 10 or
				  more.
"Shall be insulated to" means that insulation rated at the
				  prescribed R-value shall be installed.
"Space conditioning" means energy consumed to provide heating
				  or cooling to a building by a heating, ventilating or air conditioning
				  system.
"Standard building" means a hypothetical building which is
				  designed to comply with the prescriptive standards listed in
				   10 MRSA
				  §1415-G(3) for the
				  purposes of being used as a base case when demonstrating compliance with the
				  standards using the performance-based compliance procedure.
"Subsidized housing" means a residence which is constructed,
				  renovated, or remodeled with the use of any public funds, guarantees, or bond
				  proceeds as defined above.
"Thermal transmittance {U or U-value)" means the coefficient
				  of heat transmission (air to air). It is the time rate of heat flow per unit
				  area and unit temperature difference between the warm side and cold side air
				  films. The U-value applies to combinations of different materials used in
				  series along the heat flow path, single materials that comprise a building
				  section, cavity air spaces, and surface air films on both sides of a building
				  element. It is expressed in units of Btu/degrees Fahrenheit x Feet squared x
				  Hour.
"Unheated space" means a space which is neither a conditioned
				  space nor has any provisions for receiving a positive heat supply.
"Vapor barrier" see "vapor retarder."
"Vapor retarder" means a material installed to retard water
				  vapor diffusion into building component assemblies. The retarder shall have a
				  maximum permeance rating of 1.0 as defined in the 1989 ASHRAE Handbook of
				  Fundamentals. A vapor retarder may perform more than one function, such as, but
				  not limited to, an air barrier, referred to as an "air/vapor barrier." Building
				  papers, sometimes called "house wraps," n designed to be applied to the outside
				  of building serve only as air barriers and are not vapor retarders.
"Wall" means a vertical element of a building used primarily
				  to enclose or separate spaces.
"Wind wash" means the uncontrolled wind driven movement of
				  air through installed building insulation.