Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Safety and Professional Services › SPS 301-399 - Safety, Buildings, and Environment › SPS 320-325 - Uniform Dwelling Code › Chapter SPS 322 - Energy Conservation › Subchapter II - Definitions › Section SPS 322.10 - Definitions

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) "Air-impermeable" means having an air
					 permeance less than or equal to 0.02 L/s-m2 at a pressure differential of 75
					 pascals when tested according to ASTM E 2178 or ASTM E 283.
(2) "Conditioned floor area" means the sum of
					 areas of all floors in conditioned space in the structure, including basements,
					 cellars, and intermediate floored levels measured from the exterior faces of
					 exterior walls or from the center line of interior walls, excluding covered
					 walkways, open roofed-over areas, porches, exterior terraces or steps,
					 chimneys, roof overhangs and similar features.
(3) "Conditioned space" means space within
					 the dwelling thermal envelope which is provided with heated air or surfaces to
					 provide a heated space capable of maintaining the temperature of the space to
					 at least 50°F at design conditions.
(4) "Crawl space wall" means the opaque
					 portion of a wall which encloses a crawl space and is partially or totally
					 below grade.
(5) "Dwelling thermal
					 envelope" means the elements of a dwelling with enclosed conditioned space
					 through which thermal energy may be transferred to or from unconditioned space
					 or the exterior.
(6) "Exterior wall
					 area" means the normal projection of the dwelling envelope wall area bounding
					 interior space which is conditioned by an energy-using system including opaque
					 wall, window and door area. Any skylight shaft walls that are 12 inches or more
					 in depth, measured from the ceiling plane to the roof deck, are considered in
					 the area of exterior walls and are not considered part of the roof
					 assembly.
(7) "Heated slab" means a
					 floor slab in which an uninsulated heating element, uninsulated hydronic tubing
					 or uninsulated hot air distribution system is in contact with the slab or
					 placed within the slab or the subgrade.
(8) "HVAC" means heating, ventilating and air
					 conditioning.
(9) "HVAC system"
					 means the equipment, distribution network, and terminals that provide either
					 collectively or individually the processes of heating, ventilating, or air
					 conditioning to a building.
(10)
					 "Infiltration" means the uncontrolled inward air leakage through cracks and
					 interstices in any dwelling element and around windows and doors of a dwelling
					 caused by the pressure effects of wind, and the effect of differences in the
					 indoor and outdoor air density.
(11) "IC-rated" means an electrical fixture
					 tested and listed by an independent testing laboratory as being suitable for
					 installation in a cavity where the fixture may be in direct contact with
					 thermal insulation or combustible materials.
(12) "Mass wall" means a wall of concrete
					 block, concrete, insulated concrete forms, masonry cavity, brick other than
					 brick veneer, earth and solid timber or logs.
(13) "Opaque areas" means all exposed areas
					 of a dwelling envelope which enclose conditioned space except openings for
					 windows, skylights, doors and dwelling service systems.
(14) "Proposed design" means a description of
					 the proposed dwelling used to estimate annual energy use for determining
					 compliance based on total building performance.
(15) "Renewable energy sources" means sources
					 of energy, excluding minerals and petroleum products, derived from incoming
					 solar radiation, trees and other plants, wind, waves and tides, lake or pond
					 thermal differences and from the internal heat of the earth.
(16) "Roof assembly" means all components of
					 the roof and ceiling envelope through which heat flows, thus creating a
					 building transmission heat loss or gain, where such assembly is exposed to
					 outdoor air and encloses a heated space. Any skylight shaft walls less than 12
					 inches in depth, as measured from the ceiling plane to the roof deck, are
					 considered in the roof assembly and are not considered in the area of exterior
					 walls.
(17) "Sun room" means a
					 one-story structure attached to a dwelling with a glazing area in excess of 40%
					 of the gross area of the structure's exterior walls and roof and with any
					 screened areas capable of being covered or replaced with glazing during the
					 heating season.
Note:
A thermally isolated sun room does
						not count in the calculation of amount of glazing.
(18) "System" means a combination of central
					 or terminal equipment and their components, controls, accessories,
					 interconnecting means, and terminal devices by which energy is transformed so
					 as to perform a specific function, such as HVAC, water heating, or
					 illumination.
(19) "Thermal
					 resistance" or "R-value" means a measure of the ability to retard the flow of
					 heat. The R-value is the reciprocal of thermal transmittance or U-factor
					 expressed as R = 1/U.
Note:
The higher the R-value of a material,
						the more difficult it is for heat to be transmitted through the
						material.
(20) "Thermal
					 transmittance" or "U-factor" means the time rate of heat flow through a body or
					 assembly which is located between 2 different environments, expressed in Btu/h
					 ¢ ft.2 ¢
											°F. The U-factor applies to combinations of different
					 materials used in series along the heat flow path and also to single materials
					 that comprise a dwelling section, including cavity air spaces and air films on
					 both sides of a dwelling element.
Note:
The lower the U-factor of a material,
						the more difficult it is for heat to be transmitted through the
						material.
Note:
The thermal transmittance is also
						referred to as the coefficient of heat transfer or the coefficient of heat
						transmission.
(21)
					 "Thermally isolated" means physically and thermally separated with separate
					 zone or separate equipment controls for space heating.
(22) "Thermostat" means an automatic control
					 device actuated by temperature and designed to be responsive to
					 temperature.
(23) "Ventilation"
					 means the process of supplying or removing air by natural or mechanical means
					 to or from any space. The air may or may not have been conditioned.
(24) "Zone" means a space or group of spaces
					 within a dwelling with heating requirements sufficiently similar so that
					 comfort conditions can be maintained throughout by a single controlling
					 device.