Build Green New Mexico Thermal Bypass Guidelines Revised May 2013

May 30, 2013

All Green Verifiers eligible to participate as a third party verifier for the Build Green New Mexico green certification program for residential projects were notified by the Steve Hale, Director of Build Green New Mexico that the program would no longer require the Thermal Bypass Checklist as one of the documents necessary for certification. The basis for the judgement by the director and his associate certifiers was that the failure of a checklist item on a Thermal Bypass Checklist would be reflected in the blower door results and thus the HERS Rating.  

Further, the director stated in his guidance that it would make the program less cumbersome. Though it would take the program some time to update their written guidance and make it available on their website the new guideline is to be implemented immediately.

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Team Go Green NM

Blower Door and Duct Leakage Testing

Go Green, NM provides Blower Door and Duct Leakage testing for build green programs and the Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code. Below are a few tips:

• Draft stop all cavities an seal all corners in platform returns. Alternatively hard duct the return inside the platform.

• Seal all bypasses that allow air to leak into the home. For example, seal penetrations on exterior walls, junction boxes and HVAC registers to sheetrock with canned foam or caulk, caulk bottom plates to foundation, etc.

• Minimize duct leakage to the outside by installing ducts in conditioned space or seal all ducts outside of conditioned space with mastic.
  

Find more information by calling Go Green, NM LLC at 505.474.3627 or Contacting Us at www.gogreennmllc.com

Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code (AEEC)

Visit our NEWs page at: www.gogreennmllc.com/news.htm for more information on the AEEC.

Radon Control in NGBS

Both LEED and NGBS require passive or active radon control systems if you are in an EPA radon Zone 1. Radon control systems for Zone 2 is not mandatory only optional. All counties in NM are in Zone 1 or Zone 2. Bernalillo County is in Zone 1, Sandoval County is in Zone 2, Los Alamos is in Zone 2, Rio Arriba is in Zone 1, Las Cruces is in Zone 2, Roswell is in Zone 2, Santa Fe is in Zone 1 etc. Currently, any home built in Zone 1 would need at a minimum a passive system or an active radon control system to qualify in either the BGNM (NGBS) or LEED for Homes program.

Visit Go Green, NM LLC for more information!

www.gogreennmllc.com

Go Green, NM provides Energy Modeling, HERS Rating, Performance Testing for the Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code, and Green Verification for LEED and BGNM.